Rime ice adhesion to heated surfaces

A centrifuge technique was developed in order to investigate the adhesion strength of rime ice to various polymer surfaces. The centrifuge induced a steady tensile or shear centripetal body force on rime ice samples. Similar forces are exerted on rime ice that may accrete on wind turbine blades and can cause the ice to self-shed. The surface on which the ice sample was adhered was heated until the ice adhesion bond failed. The results indicated that the normal and shear adhesion strength of rime ice was very similar. Tests were performed at ambient temperatures of -15°C and -8°C. The results indicated a linear relationship between the adhesion strength of rime ice to the temperature of the surface, regardless of whether the ice was created at -15°C and -8°C. For ice to self-shed from a wind turbine blade, temperatures close to -3°C would need to be obtained for the surfaces tested.