Investigation of surface effects on ice formation
Ice formation on aircraft surfaces have proven to cause devastating effects. Current methods employed to curb this problem have been effective but only to a certain extent. In recent times, to fully prevent further accidents due to ice formation to occur, much research has been done on the hydrophob...
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| Format: | Final Year Project (FYP) |
| Language: | English |
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Nanyang Technological University
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/150549 |
| _version_ | 1826121663709708288 |
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| author | Achmad Mutamaqin Mohamed Ridzwan |
| author2 | Chan Weng Kong |
| author_facet | Chan Weng Kong Achmad Mutamaqin Mohamed Ridzwan |
| author_sort | Achmad Mutamaqin Mohamed Ridzwan |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Ice formation on aircraft surfaces have proven to cause devastating effects. Current methods employed to curb this problem have been effective but only to a certain extent. In recent times, to fully prevent further accidents due to ice formation to occur, much research has been done on the hydrophobicity effect and how it can be applied on the surfaces of aircrafts. One of the most effective methods in fabricating hydrophobic surfaces is through chemical etching. In this study, 6061 Aluminum Alloy plates were used for the fabrication of hydrophobic surfaces to simulate an aircraft surface as close as possible. They were chemically etched using hydrochloric acid (HCL) as the etchant and the passivation process was carried out using ethanoic stearic acid. Research has shown that etching duration and etchant concentration were the key variants to achieve different hydrophobicity effects. Hence, in order to achieve an ideal hydrophobic surface, there exists an optimal combination of etching duration and etchant concentration to be used. On top of that, to measure the hydrophobicity of these test plates, the contact angle of water was measured. Eventually, the test plate that was etched using 4M HCL for 6 minutes was deemed to be the ideal hydrophobic surface as it produced the largest average contact angle of water of 155.94°. To test if there is a relationship between the hydrophobic properties of a surface and its ice formation capabilities, an experiment was designed to measure the time taken for a water droplet, placed on the abovementioned test plates of different hydrophobic properties, to freeze completely. Generally, the test plates that were etched using the 4M HCL etchant showed slower ice formation rates than those etched in 3M HCL etchant. Furthermore, comparing between contact angles and ice formation rates, it was found that the larger the contact angle produced, the slower the rate at which the water droplet freezes. As expected, the test plate that produced the largest contact angle of 155.94° had the slowest ice formation time of 8 minutes 16 seconds. In addition, it was also discovered that freezing of the test plates caused a degradation of contact angles which led to a deterioration of ice formation capabilities of the hydrophobic surfaces. A second round of the icing experiment showed an overall drop in ice formation rates than in the first round. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:36:12Z |
| format | Final Year Project (FYP) |
| id | ntu-10356/150549 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T05:36:12Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Nanyang Technological University |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1505492021-05-31T05:57:53Z Investigation of surface effects on ice formation Achmad Mutamaqin Mohamed Ridzwan Chan Weng Kong School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering MWKCHAN@ntu.edu.sg Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Fluid mechanics Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Aircraft Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Accidents and air safety Ice formation on aircraft surfaces have proven to cause devastating effects. Current methods employed to curb this problem have been effective but only to a certain extent. In recent times, to fully prevent further accidents due to ice formation to occur, much research has been done on the hydrophobicity effect and how it can be applied on the surfaces of aircrafts. One of the most effective methods in fabricating hydrophobic surfaces is through chemical etching. In this study, 6061 Aluminum Alloy plates were used for the fabrication of hydrophobic surfaces to simulate an aircraft surface as close as possible. They were chemically etched using hydrochloric acid (HCL) as the etchant and the passivation process was carried out using ethanoic stearic acid. Research has shown that etching duration and etchant concentration were the key variants to achieve different hydrophobicity effects. Hence, in order to achieve an ideal hydrophobic surface, there exists an optimal combination of etching duration and etchant concentration to be used. On top of that, to measure the hydrophobicity of these test plates, the contact angle of water was measured. Eventually, the test plate that was etched using 4M HCL for 6 minutes was deemed to be the ideal hydrophobic surface as it produced the largest average contact angle of water of 155.94°. To test if there is a relationship between the hydrophobic properties of a surface and its ice formation capabilities, an experiment was designed to measure the time taken for a water droplet, placed on the abovementioned test plates of different hydrophobic properties, to freeze completely. Generally, the test plates that were etched using the 4M HCL etchant showed slower ice formation rates than those etched in 3M HCL etchant. Furthermore, comparing between contact angles and ice formation rates, it was found that the larger the contact angle produced, the slower the rate at which the water droplet freezes. As expected, the test plate that produced the largest contact angle of 155.94° had the slowest ice formation time of 8 minutes 16 seconds. In addition, it was also discovered that freezing of the test plates caused a degradation of contact angles which led to a deterioration of ice formation capabilities of the hydrophobic surfaces. A second round of the icing experiment showed an overall drop in ice formation rates than in the first round. Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) 2021-05-31T05:57:53Z 2021-05-31T05:57:53Z 2021 Final Year Project (FYP) Achmad Mutamaqin Mohamed Ridzwan (2021). Investigation of surface effects on ice formation. Final Year Project (FYP), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/150549 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/150549 en B032 application/pdf Nanyang Technological University |
| spellingShingle | Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Fluid mechanics Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Aircraft Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Accidents and air safety Achmad Mutamaqin Mohamed Ridzwan Investigation of surface effects on ice formation |
| title | Investigation of surface effects on ice formation |
| title_full | Investigation of surface effects on ice formation |
| title_fullStr | Investigation of surface effects on ice formation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigation of surface effects on ice formation |
| title_short | Investigation of surface effects on ice formation |
| title_sort | investigation of surface effects on ice formation |
| topic | Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Fluid mechanics Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Aircraft Engineering::Aeronautical engineering::Accidents and air safety |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/150549 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT achmadmutamaqinmohamedridzwan investigationofsurfaceeffectsoniceformation |