Design of an aeronautic pitot probe with a redundant heating system incorporating phase change materials

The aim of this work is the design of a pitot probe (PP) prototype in order to retard the cool down of the tip, in case of a heating element failure. The viability of operation in flight conditions is evaluated. The design consists of a redundant heating system incorporating phase change materials (PCM). Combining experimental observations of ice formation with the implementation of the conjugate heat transfer (CHT) model, with the addition of the heat release due to the phase change of the PCM, the numerical evaluation is developed. The modelling assumptions and numerical implementation of the phase change process are presented. Then, the selection an appropriate PCM is based on the low flammability and volume dilation and the quantitative effects of the material properties on the heat transfer. A commercial PCM solution based on salt hydrates was chosen as the most adequate for the design. The parametric design of the prototype, based on the design of experiment method and fractional factorial testing, is established. A multiple linear regression model was obtained in order to maximize the cooling retardation. The numerical simulations demonstrate that the prototype PP tip temperature remains 194 s longer above 0 °C than that of the conventional model analyzed. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

Aeronautical pitot probe; Aircraft icing; Design of experiment method; Heating element; Phase change materials Design; Design of experiments; Heat transfer; Heating equipment; Linear regression; Numerical models; Probes; Conjugate heat transfer; Conventional modeling; Flight conditions; Fractional factorials; Multiple linear regression models; Numerical implementation; Phase change process; Quantitative effects; Phase change materials

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