Effect of through-thickness electrical conductivity of CFRPs on lightning strike damages. (November 2018) - Kumar, Vipin
Abstract: Making carbon fiber reinforced plastics electrically conductive is an amended solution to the current lightning strike protection technology. However, optimization of the through-thickness electrical conductivity to meet a safety requirement of aircraft against lightning strikes remains unexplored. In this work, four carbon fiber reinforced plastics panels with different through-thickness electrical conductivity were fabricated using a polyaniline-based conductive resin. Their through-thickness electrical conductivity was tailored to achieve specific values using a controlled thermal treatment. The fabricated carbon fiber reinforced plastics panels were tested against a simulated lightning current of 40 kA, and the influence of through-thickness electrical properties on the performance of lightning strike protection was studied. Thermography data and ultrasonic non-destructive testing images confirmed least damage on the sample with higher electrical conductivity. Specimen with through-thickness electrical conductivity of around 110 S/m was able to retain about 92% of the residual flexural strength after the lightning test.