

Beetle-Inspired Surface Could Make for More Ice-Resistant Airplane Wings

And less de-icing means less time on the runway. 

Material scientists from Virginia Tech have developed a new surface design that can control and prevent the spread of ice and frost. The patterned surface, inspired by the shells of Namib Desert Beetles, could be manufactured on a larger scale for use on aircraft wings and other components of infrastructure, such as wind turbines and heat pump coils.

The Namib Desert Beetle has a unique shell that allows it to gather water in the arid deserts of southern Africa. Little bumps on the shell collect moisture and form water droplets that then slide across a smooth, water-repelling surface to create channels that deposit the water directly in the beetle's mouth. Scientists commonly find inspiration for new material designs in the natural world, such as tiny robotic fliers modeled after bees.

The Virginia Tech research team found that by changing the spacing of the bumps on a similar, artificial surface, you can restrict and even prevent the spread of ice. Using photolithography to apply a pattern of hydrophilic (water-attracting) dots over a hydrophobic (water-repelling) surface, the team created a small amount of material that has been shown to combat the spread of ice.

"Dew drops preferentially grow on the array of hydrophilic dots," Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics professor Jonathan Boreyko said to Virginia Tech News. "When the dots are spaced far enough apart and one of the drops freezes into ice, the ice is no longer able to spread frost to the neighboring drops because they are too far away. Instead, the drops actually evaporate completely, creating a dry zone around the ice."

In a video released by Virginia Tech you can see ice spreading at different rates according to the spacing of the surface dots.


Current frost-resistant airplane wings use expensive ice-melting chemicals or reroute warm engine air to prevent the wing from getting coated with frost. Although Virginia Tech's frost-resistant surface is only about a centimeter long, the research team is confident that the design can be scaled up for application in a number of machines and components.

A paper detailing the research teams findings was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Source: Virginia Tech News via Gizmag

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