Damage analysis for carbon fiber/epoxy composite exposed to simulated lightning current

Abstract

A simulation model of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites (CFRP) exposed to simulated lightning current was constructed based on the pyrolysis behavior of resin, in which temperature dependent material properties due to resin pyrolysis were took into account, such as thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, specific heat, and density. The damage behavior of CFRP caused by lightning strike has been modeled and validated by experiments. Based on the model, CFRP damage propagation behavior during lightning strike and influence of lightning current parameters to damage behavior of CFRP were investigated. Results indicated that, during lightning strike, damage depth and damage area of CFRP propagate rapidly at the initial stage of lightning strike, and then become slowly, damage of each layer formed under the act of resistive heating generated by electricity conduction in-plane of the layer and heat transmit between connected layers, and then propagate directionally; with the increase of peak current and waveform parameters, damage of the CFRP will be increased.

Keywords

Lightning strike CFRP laminate numerical simulation damage analysis

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Miller A. The Boeing 787 dreamliner. Keynote address. In: 22nd American society for composites technical conference, Seattle, WA, September 2007.

Mall

Ouper

Fielding

. Compression strength degradation of nanocomposites after lightning strike. J Compos Mater 2009; 43: 2987–3001.

Larsson

Delannoy

Lalande

. Voltage drop along a lightning channel during strikes to aircraft. Atmos Res 2005; 76: 377–385.

Gagne

Therriault

. Lighting strike protection of composites. Prog Aerosp Sci 2014; 64: 1–16.

Federal aviation administration technical centre, Lightning direct effects handbook; 2002.

Hirano

Katsumata

Iwahori

. Artificial lighting on graphite/epoxy composite laminate. Compos: Part A 2010; 41: 1461–1470.

Feraboli

Kawakami

. Damage of carbon/epoxy composite plates subjected to mechanical impact and simulated lightning. J Aircraft 2010; 47: 999–1012.

Feraboli

Miller

. Damage resistance and tolerance of carbon/epoxy composite coupons subjected to simulated lightning strike. Compos: Part A 2009; 40: 954–967.

Gou

Tang

Liang

. Carbon nanofiber paper for lightning strike protection of composite materials. Compos: Part B 2010; 41: 192–198.

10.

Chemartin

Lalande

. Direct effects of lightning on aircraft structure: analysis of the thermal, electrical and mechanical constraints. J Aerospace Lab 2012; 5: 1–15.

11.

Ogasawara

Hirano

Yoshimura

. Coupled thermal–electrical analysis for carbon fiber/epoxy composites exposed to simulated lighting current. Compos: Part A 2010; 41: 973–983.

12.

Wang

Ding

Liu

. Ablation damage characteristic and residual strength prediction of carbon fiber/epoxy composite suffered from lightning strike. Compos Struct 2014; 117: 222–233.

13.

Ding

Zhao

Liu

. Simulation of ablation damage of composite laminates subjected to lightning strike. Acta Aeronaut Astronaut Sin 2013; 34: 301–308.

14.

Brian

Lattimer

Jason

. Properties of composite materials for thermal analysis involving fires. Compos: Part A 2006; 37: 1068–1081.

15.

SAE-ARP-5414A. Aircraft lightning zoning. SAE International, 2005.

16.

SAE-ARP-5412A. Aircraft lightning environment and related test waveforms. SAE International, 2005.

17.

Abaqus Theory Manual. 2.12.1 coupled thermal–electrical analysis, dassault system simulia. CD-ROM 2014.

18.

Fanucci

. Thermal response of radiantly heated Kevlar and graphite/epoxy composites. J Compos Mater 1987; 21: 129–139.

19.

Griffis

Nemes

Stronesifer

. Degradation in strength of laminated composites subjected to intense heating and mechanical loading. J Compos Mater 1986; 20: 216–235.

20.

Abdelal

Murphy

. Nonlinear numerical modeling of lightning strike effect on composite panels with temperature dependent material properties. Compos Struct 2014; 109: 268–278.

21.

Munoz

Delgado

Gonzalez

. Modeling lightning impact thermo-mechanical damage on composite materials. Appl Compos Mater 2014; 21: 149–164.