Damage Characteristics of CFRP Laminates Subjected to Multiple Lightning Current Strike

The lightning damage depths and areas of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates subjected to multiple continuous sequential lightning current components with different timing combinations were experimentally evaluated. The experimental results indicated that the CFRP laminates suffered serious lightning damage, including fracture of the carbon fibers and layer delamination. After a multiple lightning strike composed of lightning components A, B and C, the surface temperature of the CFRP laminates, which was projected from the measured temperature with lower magnitude, can exceed 1600 °C. The damage area and depth were approximately 2790 mm² and 1.28 mm in the “ABCD” test mode. The damage depth was found to be closely related to lightning components A, B and D, which are accompanied by the shockwave and the overpressure effect, the dielectric breakdown effect and the local thermal effect. The increases in the surface temperature and damage area after lightning strike were mainly affected by the lightning component C with substantial thermal effect. The application sequence and material properties are important factors for evaluating the damage effect of the newly added lightning component on samples that have suffered from multiple continuous lightning components. The influencing factors and analysis method for CFRP laminate lightning damage subjected to multiple continuous sequential lightning components may provide both experimental support and a theoretical basis for studying the mechanism of the lightning effect and the refinement and improvement of a lightning direct effect test method for CFRP laminates in the future.