A wing anti-ice system for commercial aircraft that considers environmental impact and aircraft fuel efficiency should be designed to consider both the degradation of engine performance and the appropriate evaluation of ice accumulation on the area behind the protected surface of the wing, referred to as "runback ice".
Generally, the ice shape is evaluated by icing wind tunnel testing. However, since ice has the characteristics of shedding and accumulating processes, it is impracticable for the ice shape to be directly captured and measured because the ice tends to break off and vary due to the fluctuating wind when the wind tunnel shuts off. This report introduces a new optical measurement system that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has developed as a certifiable method for commercial aircraft.
