
Novel Laser-Based Method Effectively De-Ices Aircraft - rajnathani
https://optics.org/news/11/1/97
======
blakesterz
Sadly it appears this is not a giant laser that shoots the plane when it's
covered with ice. It's a way to change the surface of the wings so that
ice/snow doesn't stick in the first place.

~~~
zwieback
Yeah, I was expecting to read about how to get a gigantic laser out onto the
runways. Still cool, though.

~~~
NovemberWhiskey
Right - this is anti-icing; not deicing.

------
ghastmaster
What happens when they paint the parts to prevent corrosion? I imagine all the
properties of the laser etching are negated.

~~~
oliveshell
As far as I understand it, corrosion isn’t that much of a worry with aluminum
airframes— as long as the plane doesn’t spend too much time near salt water.

There are many past and present airline liveries where the fuselage is left
largely bare, for instance:

[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Boeing_7...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Boeing_767-323-ER%2C_Oneworld_%28American_Airlines%29_AN2217029.jpg)

~~~
metaphor
Just because it looks bare doesn't mean it's unfinished.

If I specified sheet aluminum for Type II Class 3 chemical conversion per MIL-
DTL-5541, any materials QC professional would be hard pressed to visually
determine that anything was actually done to the material.

To be sure, no, MIL-DTL-5541 isn't an uncommon spec constrained to military
applications.

~~~
hinkley
I know I've noticed on airplanes before that while some of the wing is
aluminum colored, some areas in particular are painted a vaguely aluminum-
colored shade of grey.

And I think the... it seems they're called Krueger flaps? Those are often
painted aren't they? And those I'd think you'd definitely want to de-ice.

~~~
handedness
On an aircraft that has a mixture of polished and painted surfaces, the
painted surfaces often aren't bare aluminum. Often that's the wing root
fairings, winglets, nacelles, radar cones, vertical stabilizer, and so on.

~~~
hinkley
I don’t think I was meant to get a giggle out of this. Can you explain using
other words? Of course a painted surface isn’t bare. It’s got paint on it.

Did you mean it’s not aluminum? Or a different grade?

~~~
handedness
Thanks, I laughed at it myself, in hindsight. I should have stipulated
"underneath" and likely appended an "if you follow...".

Yes, well, they may either be materials that have other surface
textures/coatings/treatments/finishes that aren't conducive to polishing, or
they may be other metals, or non-metallic composites (can't put aluminum over
a radar, for example), and so on.

TL;DR: The painted surfaces are generally instances in which polished aluminum
won't really work, for a variety of reasons.

------
AWildC182
Interesting approach and hugely useful if practical, though it bears
mentioning that the leading edges on aircraft experience a fair amount of
abrasion from dust, debris, and insects. I wonder how long this treatment
would be effective for in a real world environment

~~~
jcims
Super important question, first thing that came to mind. How would you even
test it for efficacy? Just look for ice building up and say 'welp, time for
refinish?'

~~~
colechristensen
There are wind tunnels for testing icing behaviors, not too hard to do an
accelerated aging test and come up with standard procedures.

~~~
AWildC182
Could be easier said than done. There are lots of edge cases that could become
a problem in real use. Stuff like surface contamination from various fluids or
environmental factors.

~~~
dmurray
Do 90% of your testing in the wind tunnel, and sanity check your results by
flying it for real.

------
forkexec
If it can be manufactured for reasonable cost, effectiveness and sensible
power consumption, seems like a fit for small aircraft, fighter jets and any
aircraft that don't have deicing boots or anti-ice systems.

------
AWildC182
Anyone with a better background, are micro surface features required for this
kind of thing or could teflon/rain-x type chemical coatings create a more
durable/corrosion resistant/easily repairable effect?

------
frandroid
Did Fraunhofer just repurpose MP3 codecs to aluminium surface patterns?

------
DailyHN
Very clever.

Also seems like something pulled from ancient aliens.

~~~
excalibur
I was thinking Tony Stark. "How did you solve the icing problem?"

~~~
pjmorris
Nice. I'd drummed up Dr Evil, "Mr. Powers, you'll notice that all the sharks
(planes) have laser beams attached to their heads. I figure every creature
deserves a warm meal."

