Icing has been a significant issue for aircraft operators since the dawn of aviation, posing major safety and cost issues in Canada and around the world. This is why it has become a priority to address today's critical challenges by developing, demonstrating, evaluating and certifying new technologies to detect, characterize and mitigate icing threats.
Our expertise
The Aerospace Research Centre's icing and safety focus area provides technologies and processes that reduce the costs of developing and certifying products related to safe aircraft operations. Through our expertise and advanced experimental and simulation capabilities, we support product development and certification, and ensure compliance with the latest aircraft icing regulations.
For the past 80 years, the NRC has developed world-leading icing facilities and expertise in aviation icing. We're known for gathering and analyzing the data that underpin key regulations, and for understanding fundamental physical phenomena and their impact on aircraft performance and safety.
We work closely with the aerospace industry to address critical icing challenges. Our experts provide aircraft and engine manufacturers, instrument suppliers and flight regulators with technologies, processes and facilities that will reduce the cost of product development and qualification. This leads to operational savings due to reduced flight times, fewer delays and increased aircraft availability.
Our research focuses on 4 key pillars for research and innovation:
- Developing innovative sensors to detect and characterize ice
- Certifying aircraft components under the latest regulations for conditions such as ice crystal, mixed phase and supercooled liquid water, and supercooled large drop
- Testing engines in icing conditions, from sub-scale to full size assemblies
- Characterizing the icing environment to enhance the current understanding of adverse weather aloft and providinge important data for the next generation of air vehicles
Our 4 pillars are supported by the following services:
- Developing and operating ground test facilities and simulation
- Offering access to unique icing expertise, with competitive rates, customized service options and measures to ensure the integrity of confidentiality and of partner data
Facilities and labs
Our partners and clients have access to our unique facilities, enabling them to develop, test, certify and deliver essential next-generation icing qualification technologies.
We are a founding partner of the Global Aerospace Centre of Icing and Environmental Research in Thompson, Manitoba, which we use for large engine certification tests.
Additional test and simulation facilities
- Altitude icing wind tunnel
- Convair 580 atmospheric research aircraft
- Propulsion and power laboratory
- Research altitude test facility
- 3-dimensional morphogenic icing code
- 9m wind tunnel
Success stories
Learn more about our significant milestones and accomplishments in the field of aircraft icing and safety research:
- The NRC's expertise sought after to improve aircraft safety under rare icing conditions
- Chasing tropical storms to make air travel safer
Why work with us
Our icing research and technology development team is developing several new technologies that are ready for demonstration. We are now looking for innovative partners who can benefit from these critical advancements and eventually help bring them to market.
For aircraft operators
- Realize lower operating costs associated with ground de-icing and flight delays, as well as reduced costs of re-routing and safer aircraft operation under icing conditions
For aircraft original equipment manufacturers
- Develop reliable products that have minimal operating risk under icing conditions
- Offer increased aircraft and rotorcraft availability under known icing conditions
For engine OEMs
- Develop new engine technologies capable of meeting current and future icing certification rules, with lower operating and certification costs
For instrument suppliers
- Develop new aircraft and engine instrumentation that will reliably detect the in-flight icing threat, and can be certified against existing and new regulations at a lower cost
For regulators
- Work with the NRC to develop certification standards for safe flight operations in icing environments, based on a complete understanding of the icing threat
- Other partners include Canadian companies that possess or seek expertise in aviation icing mitigation.
Technical and advisory services
We have a long history of conducting research, performing technical services and developing technology solutions to address various icing problems. Our strengths enable us to develop, manage and deliver results for complex multi-year projects, through consortia, collaborative research and fee-for-service agreements.
We have significant expertise in:
- airborne research
- airworthiness certification
- flight test and evaluation
- gas turbine engine certification
- icing formation, detection and mitigation
- sensors