This increases fuel consumption and further reduces speed, making a stall more likely to occur, causing the aircraft to lose altitude.
Ice accumulates on helicopter rotor blades and aircraft propellers causing weight and aerodynamic imbalances that are amplified due to their rotation.
[4] Testing and case studies performed in the 1990s have demonstrated that ice bridging is not a significant concern with modern boot designs.
Sometimes called a weeping wing,[6] running wet, or evaporative system, these systems use a deicing fluid, typically based on ethylene glycol or isopropyl alcohol, to prevent ice forming and to break up accumulated ice on critical surfaces of an aircraft.
[7] One or two electrically-driven pumps send the fluid to proportioning units that divide the flow between areas to be protected.
Fluid is forced through holes in panels on the leading edges of the wings, horizontal stabilizers, fairings, struts, engine inlets, and from a slinger-ring on the propeller and the windshield sprayer.
[8][9] The system was initially used during World War II by the British, having been developed by Tecalemit-Kilfrost-Sheepbridge Stokes (TKS).
A disadvantage of these systems is that supplying an adequate amount of bleed air can negatively affect engine performance.
[15] For general aviation, ThermaWing uses a flexible, electrically conductive, graphite foil attached to a wing's leading edge.
Pilots can turn on the electric heater to provide sufficient heat to prevent the formation of ice on the windscreen.
[17] Electro-mechanical expulsion deicing systems (EMEDS) use a percussive force initiated by actuators inside the structure which induce a shock wave in the surface to be cleared.
[18][19] Hybrid systems have also been developed that combine the EMEDS with heating elements, where a heater prevents ice accumulation on the leading edge of the airfoil and the EMED system removes accumulations aft of the heated portion of the airfoil.
Candidates include carbon nanotubes and slippery liquid infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) which repel water when it forms into ice.