Electrothermal-coupled flexible microwave resonant icing sensor Array

This paper proposes an ice prevention and de-icing flexible microwave sensor array based on electrothermal coupling. The flexible sensor array uses the principle of microwave resonance to detect ice thickness and shape, integrating an electric heating moduleto achieve integrated ice prevention and de-icing functions. Ice detection employs a complementary coupled crack ring resonator (CCSRR) structure sensitive to ice layer thickness, while electric heating de-icing is achieved through a flexible structure of PI(Polyimide) substrate heating wires, combined with NTC(Negative Temperature Coefficient Thermistor) for real-time temperature feedback. Low-power operation mode of electric heating film module endowing the system with certain anti-icing capabilities. Additionally, the sensor array is fully flexible, making it easy to install on areas prone to icing on drones, thus preventing icing from affecting flight safety. The array sensor can perform multi-point measurements to obtain ice shape information. First, a single electrothermal coupling ice prevention and de-icing integrated sensor element was fabricated, and a S21 parameter testing platform was established to verify the ice detection and de-icing capabilities of the sensor array system. The results show that the designed sensor array can distinguish 0.1 mm ice layers. In a-10 °C environment, electrothermal de-icing experiments demonstrated that 4 mm ice layers could be completely melted within 20 s. The heating effect of the sensor array is ideal; preheating can effectively prevent icing, and the degree of de-icing can be simultaneously determined during the de-icing process. The Low-power operation mode of electric heating film module ensures that when icing occurs on the system surfaceThe delay is doubled, and the energy consumption of single electric heating anti-icing is reduced by half. It proves that the ice sensor array has good ice detection and anti-icing ability.