Canada’s National Research Council (NRC) has added new capabilities to its altitude icing wind tunnel (AIWT), such as simulating flights at 25,000 feet and the addition of hot air supply for models that use it for de-icing. The improvements will help NRC meet client demands for development and certification work recognized by regulators such as Europe’s EASA and the U.S. FAA.

With a 0.5-meter-square test section, NRC’s Altitude Icing Wind Tunnel is a cost-effective facility used by clients for testing of small models, wing sections and air-data probes, validation of numerical ice accretion codes and evaluation of ice accretion on non-protected aircraft components.

The tunnel’s comparatively small test section, combined with its relatively high-speed capabilities (up to Mach 0.5 with insert), makes it particularly suitable and efficient for the testing of instrumentation and for viewing the microphysical processes of ice accretion.

The NRC and Newmerical Technologies International (NTI) recently announced an exclusive licensing agreement for NTI to use, market and further develop NRC-patented in-flight icing modeling technology to predict the shape and structural details of ice accretions affecting aircraft safety.