Abstract
This article reports on solid particle erosion tests performed on glass fiber reinforced polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) for use on an all-composite ice-protection system for aircraft structures. The idea was introduced to use a metal mesh as a convenient way of toughening the surface layer thereby increasing erosion resistance. The erosion rates of the composites were evaluated at different impingement angles and with different erodent particle size. An aircraft-grade aluminium sheet was also used to provide a comparison for the composites. It was found that the erosion rate of the composites drastically reduced upon the introduction of an impregnated mesh onto the surface of the baseline glass/PPS laminate, to values similar to that of the aluminium sheet. In addition, the erosion rate was found to be dependent not only on the volume fraction of the matrix on the surface, but also the properties of the metal used for the mesh. The solution to use a metal mesh was shown to have multifunctional uses for composite based ice-protection system.