Characteristics of lightning strike damage on carbon fiber composites and performances of metallic protection systems

Abstract:
Herein we study the lightning strike damage characteristics of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites caused by full-scale lightning current components A and C, and investigate the protective performance of four different metallic lightning strike protection (LSP) systems. Our results show that the Joule heat is an important contributor to damage from current component A, while the arc heat is crucial for damage from current component C. In general, both the full-pro-tection technology and the local-protection technologies give CFRP a tolerance to the current components A and C. Our findings suggest that local-protection LSP systems can be a cost-effective alternative to full-protection systems.