Effect of Icing on the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Propulsion Systems

Vertical Take-off and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (VTOL UAVs) are operated at low flight levels, close to the ground, where they are exposed to meteorological conditions, which are difficult to predict and can cause severe degradation of their aerodynamic, performance and flight characteristics. Of these meteorological conditions, icing is one of the most dangerous for the operation of VTOL UAVs. Although icing poses significant safety and operational risks, it has not yet been taken into account in their operation and there are no certified and verified anti-icing and de-icing solutions against it. The aim of this work is to propose a concept together with testing methodology, which would allow to determine the influence of individual meteorological conditions of icing on selected performance characteristics of propulsion systems of VTOL UAVs. Testing and exposure of propulsion systems to icing conditions took place in the climatic chamber. Several series of measurements were performed in the climatic chamber, in which the propulsion systems were exposed to a temperature of 15, of -5, of -10 and of -15 degrees C and a flow of super-cooled water droplets of 1.43 g/s. The mutual comparison of the performed measurements made it possible to determine the influence of individual conditions on the decrease of the thrust, the increase of the consumed electric current and the occurrence of vibrations.