Lightning Strike Protection and Electromagnetic Interference Shielding of Composite Structures using Conductive Submicron Films

摘要

Carbon fibers have very good mechanical properties with the best strength-to-weight ratios, but are very poor conductors of electricity, especially when embedded with a resin system. These fibers should be further studied to increase the electrical conductivity of the aircraft structures and enhance the surface conductance of the fiber reinforced composites. The present study deals with the preparation of composite sandwich structures of carbon fibers with submicron copper films and subjecting those to lightning strike effects and EMI shielding. During the tests, the voltages on the conductive composite surfaces were found to be low; hence, an increase in current would help reduce the damage on composite panels after the lightning strikes. The same theory would be applicable to the EMI shielding. When lightning strikes were applied to composite coupons, the resulting damage from the currents was considerably reduced on those with metallic submicron films. Inspection results for the area of damage were correlated with results pertaining to lightning strikes and electromagnetic interference.