Analysis of Ablation and Residual Strength for Lightning Strike on Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Laminates

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) with lightweight and high-strength has been widely used in aircraft structures. As their weaker electrical conductivities compared to metals, the impact of lightning strike must be considered. Usually, the damage caused by lightning current component C wave is most serious to CFRP, so a thermo-electric coupling model of C wave and a finite element model (FEM) of composite laminates are proposed to simulate the ablative damage induced by C wave in the CFRP laminates. In the subsequent thermal equilibrium process, a further propagation of the damage in the CFRP laminates by thermal radiation and conduction is estimated. Finally, the residual compressive strength of CFRP laminates with lightning damage is predicted by employing the three-dimensional Hashin criterion based on propagated damage.