Testing of different materials for composite aircraft lightning protection

In this paper, the testing and investigation of the mesh layer on composite materials as well as the effectiveness of the coating made using the cold spray process for the purpose of aircraft lightning protection are conducted. The results from the coated composite material samples are compared to those without coating. The investigation is carried out by quantifying the damage on the composite material radially when struck by lightning and comparing the temperature profiles of the materials. The 8/20 generator is used to generate the lightning current impulse. The results are summarized as follows: for an increase in the current, there is a significant increase in the damage on the composite material for both coated and uncoated samples. For an increase in current, there is a slight increase in the maximum measured temperature for both samples. Furthermore, the temperature profile of coated samples showed slightly higher temperature when compared to the uncoated samples. Overall, the coated samples have less radial damage for the same lightning currents when compared to samples which were not coated. This confirms that the cold spray coating process can indeed be used for protection, restoration and possibly manufacturing of aircraft composite materials.