COUPLED ELECTRICAL-THERMAL ANALYSIS OF LIGHTNING DIRECT EFFECT ON AIRCRAFT COMPOSITE STRUCTURES

Year 2024, Volume: 8 Issue: 2, 187 - 197, 31.12.2024

Mehmet Pektaş , Serkan Kurt , Özkan Altay

https://doi.org/10.53600/ajesa.1495200

Abstract

In this study, the damage caused by the lightning direct effect on carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) aircraft structures located in the initial lightning strike zones has been addressed. Lightning current component A was applied to both CFRP and copper foil coated CFRP models, and coupled electrical-thermal analyses were conducted using the finite element method implemented in the Abaqus software. The analysis aimed to investigate the effectiveness of 448 g/m² solid copper foil in reducing the damage caused by Joule heating, one of the direct effects of lightning, in CFRP, as well as to determine the influence of panel size variation on the extent of damage.

Keywords

lightning, direct effect, aircraft, electrical-thermal analysis, CFRP

Supporting Institution

TAI-Turkish Aerospace Industries

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