MODELING OF LIGHTNING CURRENT DISTRIBUTION IN COMPLEX ASSEMBLIES TAKING INTO ACCOUNT NON-LINEAR EFFECTS

摘要

Complex assemblies such as helicopters' rotors show, when struck by lightning, a current distribution between several paths which can be driven not only by ohmic and inductive effects but also by non-linear phenomena such as voltage breakdown between mobile pieces or melting/rupture of bonding cables. To compute the distribution of currents taking into account those non-linear effects, we implemented a methodology combining 3D electromagnetic modeling and electrical circuit models. The final computation is performed with an electrical circuit software that allows dealing with a multiport representation of the 3D-EM model and electrical equivalents to non-linear effects such as a fuse to simulate melting of cables and a voltage controlled switch to simulate breakdown. The results we obtained are promising and give simulation values matching quite well the measurements performed during lightning tests on a rotor.