Aircraft Anti-Icing Fluids Endurance Under Natural and Artificial Snow: a Comparative Study

The usage of De-Icing and Anti-Icing fluids is the most common method recognized to protect aircraft on the ground from freezing and frozen contaminants. The snow endurance times, which means the duration that a fluid can protect the vehicle from snow accumulations, is currently determined outdoor under natural conditions. To replace this expensive and very impractical method, the Anti-Icing Materials International Laboratory developed snow machine was used to perform a comparative study. In this first study, three commercial fluids were tested at various snow intensity rates under artificial snow generated with the snow machine in a cold chamber to validate the testing procedure and investigate the way forward. The results obtained were then positively compared to natural snow endurance times. They were also compared with natural snow regression curves, showing similar trends. This study demonstrated the great potential of this method showing the necessity of pursuing this investigation.