Deicing for rotor blades with ice detectors
AssigneeLockheed Martin Corporation
InventorsDaniel A. Griffiths, Philip J. Alldridge, Timothy R. Budd
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An aircraft includes a rotor blade, ice detectors, and heaters. The rotor blade is configured to be driven to rotate about a hub. The ice detectors are positioned along the rotor blade in zones defined at different locations along the rotor blade. The heaters are disposed along the rotor blade. The heaters are configured to selectively provide heat to any of the zones defined at the different locations along the rotor blade. The controller is configured to activate one or more of the heaters to provide targeted heating to one or more of the zones responsive to feedback obtained from the ice detectors.
Claims20
An aircraft, comprising:
- a fuselage including a hub to rotate relative to the fuselage;
- an engine to drive the hub to rotate;
- a rotor blade coupled with the hub and having a plurality of zones disposed spanwise along the rotor blade, one or more of the plurality of zones having a first value of length spanwise that is greater than a second value of length spanwise of another one of the plurality of zones;
- a plurality of ice detectors positioned along the rotor blade on an exterior surface of the rotor blade, the plurality of ice detectors conformed to the exterior surface of the rotor blade, each of the plurality of zones having at least one of the plurality of ice detectors;
- a plurality of heaters disposed along the rotor blade, the plurality of heaters configured to selectively provide heat to any of the plurality of zones, each of the plurality of zones having at least one of the plurality of heaters;
- and
- a controller configured to activate one or more of the plurality of heaters to provide targeted heating to one or more of the plurality of zones responsive to feedback obtained from the plurality of ice detectors without providing heat to another one or more of the plurality of zones.
A method of de-icing an aircraft having a rotor blade including a plurality of zones defined along a length of the rotor blade, a plurality of heaters corresponding to the plurality of zones, and a plurality of ice detectors conformed on exterior surfaces corresponding to the plurality of zones, the method comprising:
- detecting an icing condition at a first zone of the plurality of zones based on feedback from the plurality of ice detectors conformed to the exterior surfaces;
- and
- activating a corresponding one of the plurality of heaters to provide heat to the rotor blade at the first zone of the plurality of zones at which the icing condition is detected, one or more of the plurality of zones having a first value of length spanwise that is greater than a second value of the length spanwise of another one of the plurality of zones.
A de-ice system for an aircraft having a rotor blade, the de-ice system comprising:
- a plurality of ice detectors to be locally disposed along and conformed to an exterior surface of the rotor blade at a plurality of zones defined along the rotor blade, one or more of the plurality of zones having a first value of length spanwise that is greater than a second value of the length spanwise of another one of the plurality of zones;
- a plurality of heaters to be disposed along the rotor blade at the plurality of zones, wherein the plurality of heaters are independently operable to selectively provide heating to the rotor blade at the plurality of zones;
- and
- a controller configured to operate the plurality of heaters independently of each other based on sensor data obtained from the plurality of ice detectors to provide targeted heating to zones of the rotor blade at which ice conditions are detected.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.