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Protection Against the Direct Effects of Lightning Strikes for a Carbon Fiber Composite Aircraft
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English
Abstract
Presently, many manufacturers are replacing aluminium with fiberglass, Kevlar, and carbon fiber composites (CFC) to take advantage of the fuel savings allowed by weight reduction. It is well known that lightning strikes may cause severe damage to unprotected composites, so protective measures must usually be incorporated. Presently available methods involve application of a layer or ply of conductive material to the laminate, which compromises the original weight savings and sometimes imposes manufacturing and repair difficulties. These drawbacks have been especially severe for thin laminates, where the weight of the protective layer is a significant portion of the entire laminate. Thus, an effort was begun to develop more efficient lightning protective methods for CFC laminates. The outcome was a new CFC material that incorporates conductive filaments to disperse stroke and energies and to limit damage but retains the same physical and structural properties as unprotected CFC. The weight increase to this modification is extremely small, and no additional procedures are necessary in the aircraft manufacture.
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Citation
McClenahan, D. and Plumer, J., "Protection Against the Direct Effects of Lightning Strikes for a Carbon Fiber Composite Aircraft," SAE Technical Paper 830724, 1983, https://doi.org/10.4271/830724.Also In
References
- Lightning Test Waveforms and Techniques for Aerospace Vehicles and Hardware. Report of SAE Committee, AE4L 20 June 1978
- McClenahan David H. Plumer, J.A. "Protection of Advanced Composites Against the Direct Effects of Lightning Strikes" 2