Fabrication of an Anti-Icing Aluminum Alloy Surface by Combining Wet Etching and Laser Machining

Abstract

The phenomenon of icing on the surface of the fuselage while aircraft pass through clouds has an impact on flight safety. This aircraft icing may adversely affect metrological conditions and cause aerodynamic mechanical effects, resulting in a threat to flight safety. This research aims to fabricate an anti-icing surface on a 2524 aluminum alloy material by combining laser machining and wet etching. The microstructure surfaces were obtained by laser, the nanostructured surfaces were obtained by wet etching, and the hierarchical structures were prepared through a combination of these two processes. The contact angle, icing delay performance, icing adhesion, and dynamic water repellency of three kinds of textured surfaces and smooth surface were tested and compared comprehensively through experiments. The experimental findings have shown that the hierarchical surface has the best superhydrophobic properties, and the freezing time of droplets on the hierarchical surface can be extended 10 times. In addition, the ice adhesion on the surface of the hierarchical structure decreased by approximately 75% compared to the untreated samples. The surface of the hierarchical structure showed the best dynamic water repellency. The proposed hybrid laser machining–wet etching fabricating method has the potential to avoid aircraft icing.