Prediction of lightning strike damage on carbon-epoxy laminates

Abstract

Composite materials have been recently introduced in aerospace industry and their use is more common every day. Aircraft are constantly exposed to light-ning strikes, so their components have to be designed to minimise the effects of this phenomenon. The study of damage inflicted by lightning strikes is required in order to know the response of composite laminates to them. This project deals with the study of two relevant direct effects of lightning strikes: resistive heating and acoustic shockwaves. The temperature distribution that results from resistive heating caused by light-ning strikes in carbon-epoxy laminates is predicted by a fully thermal approach that uses analogous thermal-electrical conductivities in LS-DYNA. Its objective is the estimation of the region in which the resin is decomposed. The overpressure caused by the fast increment in temperature around the at-tachment point is theoretically estimated and applied by means of an equivalent TNT detonation simulated with Load Blast Enhanced and Multi-Material ALE in LS-DYNA.