PFI-TT: Development and Flight Tests of an Aircraft Safety System

创新-技术转化伙伴关系(PFI-TT)项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是航空安全，特别是开发结冰探测系统。结冰是飞机事故的主要原因，即使是像商用喷气式运输机这样获准在结冰条件下飞行的飞机也是如此。事实上，通过客户发现，该团队发现需要新的结冰检测技术，以直接响应美国联邦法规的变化以及欧洲航空安全局(EASA)的新认证要求。除了航空，拟议的技术还可以用于检测桥梁、道路和其他基础设施系统上的冰危害。拟议的项目将开发并试飞一套完整的飞机结冰探测系统。最近飞机认证规范(ACS)的变化要求市场上尚不存在的新型结冰探测系统。在过去的几十年里，过冷大液滴(SLD)造成了几起飞机事故。在大多数通用航空(GA)飞机上，结冰检测目前只包括气温接近或低于0摄氏度的通知；然而，仅靠温度测量不足以检测危险结冰条件的存在。商用和商务航空飞机拥有更复杂的结冰探测系统，但它们只测量安装在探头上的结冰，而可能不测量飞机其他区域的结冰，导致危险的飞行条件。拟议的系统能够探测飞机周围的空域，检测SLD，测量云中液态水的含量，并在冰可能造成危险飞行条件的地方检测结冰。该项目还将有助于培养对创业感兴趣的工程学学生。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation – Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is aviation safety, in particular the development of an icing detection system. Ice is a major cause of aircraft accidents, even for airplanes approved for flight in icing conditions like commercial transport jet aircraft. Indeed, through customer discovery, the team found that there is a need for new icing detection technologies that respond directly to changes in the US Code of Federal Regulations as well as the new certification requirements of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). In addition to aviation, the technologies proposed technologies could be used to detect ice hazards on bridges, roads, and other infrastructure systems. The proposed project will develop and flight test a complete aircraft icing detection system. Recent changes in Aircraft Certification Specifications (ACS) requires new types of icing detection systems that do not yet exist in the market. Supercooled Large Droplets (SLD) have caused several airplane accidents in the last few decades. In most General Aviation (GA) airplanes ice detection currently consists simply of notifications that the air temperature is near or below 0 degrees Celcius; However, temperature measurements alone are not enough for detecting the presence of hazardous icing conditions. Commercial and Business Aviation airplanes have more complex icing detection systems, but they only measure ice accumulation on mounted probes and may not measure ice on other areas of the plane, resulting in hazardous flight conditions. The proposed system is capable of probing the airspace around airplanes, detecting SLDs, measuring cloud liquid water content, and detecting ice accretion where ice can create hazardous flight conditions. This project will also contribute to the education of engineering students interested in entrepreneurship.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.