| A laminated composite circular cylindrical shell prototype of a leading edge deicing system with embedded Nitinol wire was designed, constructed and analyzed to determine the feasibility of such a system for the removal of ice from the leading edge of an aircraft wing. This laminated cylindrical shell was analyzed to determine the level of strain that could be generated by the activation of the embedded Nitinol wires. These predicted values of strain were then compared with those strains measured during laboratory tests of the prototype system. The embedded Nitinol wire was incorporated into the finite element model of the curved laminate as a lamina of the system with appropriate effective thickness and a pseudo-thermal reaction to generate the recovery forces associated with the shape memory alloy. After verifying the output of the analytical model with respect to measured test results of the experimental phase of the study, design factors for candidate designs were examined using this finite element model. A Rayleigh-Ritz analysis was also used to confirm the results of the finite element model. |
