Prévention par chauffage de la formation de givre ou de verglas sur les conducteurs cylindriques ou toronnés

The power required to prevent rime and glaze formation by Joule heating on a smooth or stranded conductor was investigated. Experiments were conducted in a wind tunnel to determine the effect of wind velocity, temperature and water content on this power. Results show that the minimum power for ice prevention increases for a stranded conductor. At wind velocities at which rime is formed on a conductor, the effect of the conductor strands is due mostly to an increase in the heat transfer area and can be diminished by using a trapezoidal cross-section stranded conductor. For a smooth cylindrical conductor it is shown that the ice prevention power is a function of ambient temperature, air stream velocity, water content, and droplet collection efficiency of the conductor.