Development of a scalable and efficient lightning strike protection system for composite aircraft

保护飞机免受雷击造成的损害是一项重大挑战。复合材料飞机需要集成额外的保护系统，以尽量减少雷击造成的损害。为了减少大部分由复合材料制成的飞机的重量和燃料消耗，必须尽量减少这些保护系统的额外重量。目前的解决方案是在树脂中嵌入一层由铜网组成的表面层，这增加了重量，容易腐蚀，并增加了飞机维修的复杂性。在与加拿大贝尔德事隆的合作下，该项目将研究两种轻型和可扩展的雷击保护系统，以满足市场需求，更具体地说，是贝尔德事隆加拿大公司目前正在开发的垂直起飞空中出租车的导管风扇。在这个项目中，重点将放在解决方案在其最终应用环境中的可扩展性上。尽管其他实验室规模的解决方案正在全球范围内开发，但该项目通过其生产大型测试板和演示组件的目标以及调查整理层对保护系统有效性的影响而使自己与众不同。该项目的主要成果将是：(1)可扩展的雷击防护系统和(2)调查整理层对雷击防护系统性能的影响。该项目将在多学科环境和符合加拿大航空航天工业需求的新兴专业领域培养具有可转移技能的高素质人才（HQP）（2名PDF和2名硕士）。该项目的下一步将是贝尔德事隆加拿大公司将这些结果应用于他们垂直起飞车辆的导管风扇设计。

Protecting aircraft against lightning strike induced damage is a major challenge. Composite aircraft require the integration of additional protection systems to minimize damage caused by lightning strikes. The additional weight of these protection systems must be minimized in order to reduce the weight and fuel consumption of aircraft mostly made of composite materials. The current solution, involving a surface layer composed of a copper mesh embedded in a resin, adds weight, is prone to corrosion and adds complexity to the repairs performed on the aircraft. In collaboration with Bell Textron Canada, this project will investigate two lightweight and scalable lightning strike protection systems tailored to the needs of the market, more specifically for the ducted fan of the vertical take-off air taxis that Bell Textron Canada is currently developing. During this project, a strong emphasis will be put on the scalability of the solutions in the context of its final application. Although other laboratory scale solutions are being developed worldwide, this project differentiates itself through its aims of producing large test panels and demonstrator assemblies, as well as investigating the effect of finishing layers on the effectiveness of the protection system. The main outcomes of this project will be (1) a scalable lightning strike protection system and (2) an investigation of the effect of finishing layers on the performance of lightning strike protection systems. This project will train highly qualified personnel (HQP) with transferable skills (2 PDF and 2 Masters students) in a multidisciplinary environment and in emerging specialized areas corresponding to the needs of the Canadian aerospace industry. The next step of this project will be for Bell Textron Canada to apply these results to their ducted fan design for their vertical take-off vehicle.