Haydale Composite Solutions has produced graphene-enhanced electrically-conductive carbon fibre-reinforced composite materials with improved resistance to damage from a severe lightning-strike event.
Carbon fibre-reinforced composite materials, as used in many aerospace structures and components, are vulnerable to damage from lightning strikes. However, the addition of functionalised nano materials to the epoxy resin through the use of Haydale’s patented plasma functionalisation process, HDPlas, has been demonstrated to significantly improve the electrical conductivity of the epoxy resin which allows the laminate to dissipate the energy of the lightning strike throughout the structure thereby reducing the localised heating which causes damage in a lightning-strike event. Importantly, these improvements have been achieved without any major issues with existing manufacturing processes.
The company says that the mechanical properties of the modified material have been evaluated and it has been shown that the properties are maintained or improved by the addition of specific nano particulates. Particular attention has been paid to the matrix-dominated properties such as in-plane and inter-laminar shear. Improvements of 16% – 20% have been recorded in the measured modulus whilst maintaining the strength of the material.
