MSU engineers lead the way for bringing UAS to the skies during ice conditions
Contact: Chris Bryant
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥旂哿κ悠 engineers in the university鈥檚 Raspet Flight Research Laboratory are spearheading research that could make unmanned aircraft systems operational by the U.S. government as well as civilian aviation in icy conditions.
MSU is leading an icing system development and technology team in what the U.S. Department of Defense hopes will result in lightweight anti-icing systems, leading to certification for UAS to operate in forecasted icing conditions. The DOD recently awarded $5 million for this effort that also includes the university鈥檚 aerospace engineering department and several industry partners.
The entire team is evaluating the use of a new carbon-nanotube coating, part of an intelligently controlled ice protection system. One aspect of the flight testing 聽includes 3-D printed ice shapes designed by Raspet to mimic frozen formations affixed to the wings. Results from those tests help inform the development of the ice protection system.聽
鈥淥ur innovative approach allows us to replicate the most severe in-flight icing conditions without traveling to cold and remote areas,鈥 said Tom Brooks, Raspet interim director. 鈥淭his allows us to conduct nearly unlimited test flights at a much lower cost and generate the data we need to develop effective, low-cost and retrofittable anti-icing system solutions for use on today鈥檚 sophisticated unmanned aircraft.鈥
NASA-designed sophisticated software models predict the shapes, and test flights are conducted, assessing these shapes鈥 impact on aerodynamic performance. Icing increases drag, reduces lift and adds weight to aircraft.
鈥淎s ice builds on the wings, a process scientists refer to as ice accretion negatively impacts the aerodynamics of the wing,鈥 Brooks said. 鈥淩aspet鈥檚 application of these 3D-printed shapes to aircraft wings enables our researchers to validate the computer modeling used to predict changes in lift and controllability caused by the ice.鈥
Today鈥檚 traditional ice countering technologies used on commercial and private airplanes, such as antifreeze pumps to spray the wings or inflatable bladders expanded on wing sections to dislodge ice, are too heavy and energy intensive to work on UAS. The newly developed coating for UAS has extremely high heat conductivity, allowing it to transfer warmth from small heat strips on the wings鈥 leading edges to counter ice formation.
If proven successful, the ice protection system, which is retrofittable to existing aircraft and easy to install, would also be of much interest in the civilian aviation industry, Brooks explained.
鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 easy and inexpensive to install on existing aircraft, this lightweight anti-icing system has tremendous potential for use in general aviation,鈥 he said.
Raspet鈥檚 two state-of-the-art TigerShark Block 3 XP aircraft support the project, weighing about 350 pounds, carrying nearly 100 pounds of payload and flying for 8-12 hours before refueling. The MSU laboratory also has worked with MSU Professor of Aerospace Engineering David Thompson, a well-known expert in aircraft icing, to create the 3-D predicted-shape models.
聽Other Raspet partners include Ohio鈥檚 private, nonprofit Battelle Memorial Institute, Kansas鈥 Ultra Electronics subsidiary ICE Inc., and Pennsylvania鈥檚 Navmar Applied Science Corporation.
MSU鈥檚 Raspet Flight Research Laboratory is the nation鈥檚 leading academic research institute dedicated exclusively to the advancement of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. is the only institution in the world that is designated both as the FAA鈥檚 UAS Safety Research Facility and as official UAS Test Sites for both the FAA and the Department of Homeland Security. Home to a fleet of the largest and most capable unmanned aircraft in academic use, Raspet has landed some $50 million in federal research and testing contracts since 2017 and remains a world leader in composite materials research.
MSU is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at聽msstate.edu.