Lightning Strike Ablation Damage Characteristic Analysis for Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composite Laminate with Fastener

In order to analyze the lightning strike ablation damage characteristic of composite laminate with fastener, based on the energy-balance relationship in lightning strike, mathematical analysis model of ablation damage of composite laminate with fastener was constructed. According to the model, an effective three dimensional thermal-electrical coupling analysis finite element model of composite laminate with fastener suffered from lightning current was established based on ABAQUS, and lightning strike ablation damage characteristic was analyzed. Analytical results reveal that lightning current could conduct through the thickness direction of the laminate due to the existence of metallic fastener, and then distribute to all layers, finally conducted in-the-plane of each layer, conductive ability of different layup orientations depend on potential distribution and in-the-plane electrical conductivity along potential gradient declining direction; different potential boundaries correspond to different potential distribution in each layer, and result in conductive ability of different layup orientations was changed, then caused different lightning strike ablation damage distribution. According to the investigation in this paper, we can recognize the lightning strike ablation damage characteristic of composite laminate with fastener qualitatively.