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Wind tunnel experiment demonstrates distinct ice accretion and higher adhesive strength on fiber-reinforced plastic versus aluminum airfoils, suggesting tailored strategies for turbine de-icing.
In cold and humid regions, icing events often occur on wind turbines. The phenomenon changes the profile of the aerodynamic airfoil and reduces the power generation efficiency of wind turbines. In the present study, icing tests were conducted in an icing wind tunnel based on NACA0018 airfoils made of fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) and aluminum alloy to investigate the effects of material type and wind speed on the characteristics of icing, including the icing area, the thickness of ice and the adhesive strength of ice. The experimental results indicated that the types of ice on the FRP airfoil and aluminum alloy airfoil were mixed ice and rime ice, respectively. The icing area increased linearly with icing time. The aluminum-alloy airfoil exhibited greater ice accretion at 6 and 10 m/s, whereas the FRP airfoil showed greater ice accretion and a broader ice-covered region at 14 m/s. The FRP airfoil also had a higher adhesive strength. The research in the present study provided an experimental foundation for anti- and de-icing technology development of wind turbine blades.
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Zhuo et al. (2026) studied this question.
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