TY - GEN
T1 - Development of highly conductive polymeric nanocomposite films on the surfaces of composites against lightning strikes
AU - Zhang, Bangwei
AU - Puttagounder, Dhanasekaran S.
AU - Misak, Heath
AU - Kalla, Devi K.
AU - Asmatulu, Ramazan
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - The most of the early airplane skins were made primarily of aluminum alloy sheets that are very good conductors of electricity. If a lightning strikes on Al surface, the current of lightning easily flows from the point of impact, and is evenly distributed throughout the surface without interruption or diversion to the interior of the aircraft. Recently, composite aircrafts have been built to increase the fuel efficiency and strength of the military and commercial aircrafts, and reduce the overall weight and corrosion. However, composite aircraft face the lightning strike problems because of the fact that the composite materials are either not conductive (e.g., fiberglass and Kevlar) or are significantly less conductive (e.g., carbon fiber) especially when they are embedded into a polymeric matrix. Thus, the lack of conductivity causes the failure when the lightning strike happens. For this reason, lightning strike protection has been vitally important for the new generation of composite aircrafts. Graphene and indium tin oxide (ITO) nanoflakes are excellent materials in terms of electrical conductivity and electromagnetic field shielding property. This paper states the current lightning strike protection techniques and provides some experimental evidence of graphene and ITO based nanocomposite coatings on the carbon fiber reinforced composites. This approach may overcome the problem of lightning strike on the composite aircrafts.
AB - The most of the early airplane skins were made primarily of aluminum alloy sheets that are very good conductors of electricity. If a lightning strikes on Al surface, the current of lightning easily flows from the point of impact, and is evenly distributed throughout the surface without interruption or diversion to the interior of the aircraft. Recently, composite aircrafts have been built to increase the fuel efficiency and strength of the military and commercial aircrafts, and reduce the overall weight and corrosion. However, composite aircraft face the lightning strike problems because of the fact that the composite materials are either not conductive (e.g., fiberglass and Kevlar) or are significantly less conductive (e.g., carbon fiber) especially when they are embedded into a polymeric matrix. Thus, the lack of conductivity causes the failure when the lightning strike happens. For this reason, lightning strike protection has been vitally important for the new generation of composite aircrafts. Graphene and indium tin oxide (ITO) nanoflakes are excellent materials in terms of electrical conductivity and electromagnetic field shielding property. This paper states the current lightning strike protection techniques and provides some experimental evidence of graphene and ITO based nanocomposite coatings on the carbon fiber reinforced composites. This approach may overcome the problem of lightning strike on the composite aircrafts.
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M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84863013498
SN - 9781934551103
T3 - International SAMPE Technical Conference
BT - SAMPE Tech 2011 Conference and Exhibition
T2 - SAMPE Tech 2011 Conference and Exhibition: Developing Scalable Materials and Processes for Our Future
Y2 - 17 October 2011 through 20 October 2011
ER -