Preliminary analysis of thermal response of dielectric and conducting composite structures during lightning strike
Andrzej Katunin, Katarzyna Krukiewicz
Quarterly No. 1, 2016 pages 8-14
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abstract The phenomenon of a lightning strike occurring during aircraft operation may seriously affect the integrity of its components due to the electrically insulating properties of polymers and polymeric composites used for manufacturing the fuselage elements of an aircraft. Due to the very high magnitude of temperature fields appearing during lightning strikes, decomposition and vaporization of the matrix and reinforcement materials occur. This results in a pyrolysis reaction and leads to rapid degradation of polymeric composites. One of the ways to limit such degradation is to make the matrix electrically conducting. Such a material is currently being developed by the authors’ team. In order to perform preliminary evaluation of the ability of the new material to minimize temperature magnitude and degradation during a lightning strike, a comparative study with a carbon fiber-reinforced polymeric composite, typical for aircraft applications, was performed. The comparative analysis was performed based on the coupled thermal-electrical analytical model of the considered composites subjected to a lightning strike. The obtained results show that the developed material, due to its electrical conductivity, receives much less thermal energy during a lightning strike and thus, minimizes degradation processes. Keywords: aircraft structures, lightning strike, conducting polymers, electrical conductivity, heat-induced structural degradation