Heat transfer and electromagnetic property investigation on the hot air <scp>quartz fiber</scp>/<scp>PTFE capillary</scp>/<scp>epoxy resin</scp> anti/de‐icing composites

Abstract To achieve the wave‐transparent and anti/de‐icing requirements of electromagnetic functional structural components on the windward surface of the aircraft, the PTFE capillary hot air tubes were pre‐buried inside the quartz fiber cloth and the hot air anti/de‐icing quartz fiber/PTFE capillary/epoxy resin (QF/PTFE/EP) composite components was prepared to that met the wave‐transparent performance. A multi‐field coupled numerical finite element simulation model was established, and the anti/de‐icing performance of the QF/PTFE/EP composite with different built‐in tube diameters were investigated by combining experiments and simulations under different hot air temperatures and pressures. The feasibility of hot air anti/de‐icing was verified through anti/de‐icing experiments and numerical simulation. The electromagnetic transmittance of the prepared hot air anti/de‐icing QF/PTFE/EP composite components was tested to characterize the effect on the stealth performance of the aircraft under the service environment. The experimental results demonstrated that with 5 mm tube pitch and hot air of 60°C ± 1°C, the surface temperature of the component with three tube diameters could reach more than 10°C. Furthermore, the decrease in the transmittance of the hot air anti/de‐icing QF/PTFE/EP composite components caused by different incidence angles and two polarization modes was less than 3%. Highlights The hot air QF/PTFE/EP anti/de‐icing composite components were fabricated. The heat transfer, anti/de‐icing, and electromagnetic transmittance performance of the hot air QF/PTFE/EP anti/de‐icing QF/PTFE/EP components were investigated. The experimental and simulation results verified the hot air anti/de‐icing QF/PTFE/EP components met the requirement of aircraft anti/de‐icing and wave transmission.