Protection of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Matrix (CFRP) Composite Laminate Against Lightning Strike Using Nano-Fillers

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Matrix (CFRP) composites are promising alternatives of metal panels for various industries owing to their advantages. However, one of the main disadvantages of using CFRP composites compared to metal panels is their susceptibility to lightning strike, which is mainly due to the low electrical conductivity of resins used as the matrix for binding the carbon fiber fabrics. Since the low electrical conductivity causes substantial amount of Joule heating that damages CFRP composites, increasing the conductivity of the material would reduce the damage causes by lightning strikes. Nano-fillers such as Carbon Black (CB) and Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) are materials that can enhance the electrical conductivity of CFRP composites. A thorough understanding on impact of conductive nanofillers on the lightning strike damage characteristics is necessary for potentially reducing the lightning strike damage of the CFRP composites. There are numerous research groups that investigated the effect of adding the conductive materials to reduce the damage of lightning strike, but the ideal composition of the material for CFRP composites has not been determined yet.