Enhanced lightning strike protection of carbon fiber composites using expanded foils with anisotropic electrical conductivity

Yunli Guo, Yongzheng Xu, Qinglin Wang, Qi Dong, Xiaosu Yi, Yuxi Jia

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

56 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In order to investigate the lightning strike protection (LSP) effectiveness of expanded foils, the carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites with copper or aluminum expanded foil surface layers were subjected to standardized Waveform D (100 kA). The results demonstrated the excellent performance of the expanded foils in suppressing the heavy lightning strikes. Importantly, the damage morphology of post-lightning specimens indicated that the electrical conductivity of expanded foils was anisotropic, which was confirmed by numerical simulation. The anisotropic conductive expanded foils can highly enhance LSP effectiveness if their laying directions are optimally designed according to aircraft lightning zoning by SAE ARP 5414. Taking the expanded foil as an example, the study proposed a novel method to enhance LSP effectiveness for CFRP-based aircraft by optimally designing the laying directions of the LSP layers with anisotropic electrical conductivity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)211-218
Number of pages8
JournalComposites - Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing
Volume117
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • A. Carbon fibers
  • Anisotropic conductivity
  • Expanded foil
  • Lightning strike protection

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ceramics and Composites
  • Mechanics of Materials

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Enhanced lightning strike protection of carbon fiber composites using expanded foils with anisotropic electrical conductivity'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this