WHIPICE

Abstract

This video documents efforts by NASA Lewis Research Center researchers to improve ice protection for aircraft. A new system of deicing aircraft by allowing a thin sheet of ice to develop, then breaking it into particles, is being examined, particularly to determine the extent of shed ice ingestion by jet engines that results. The process is documented by a high speed imaging system that scans the breakup and flow of the ice particles at 1000 frames per second. This data is then digitized and analyzed using a computer program called WHIPICE, which analyzes grey scale images of the ice particles. Detailed description of the operation of this computer program is provided.