A lightning swept stroke model: A valuable tool to investigate the lightning strike to aircraft

In the context of lightning strike on the Dassault Falcon family of aircraft, the standard zoning of Falcon 50, 900 and 2000, inferred from FAA and EUROCAE WG31 documents [US Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Advisory Circular AC 20-53A, 1985; US Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Advisory Circular AC 20-53B, Draft, 1991; EUROCAE WG 31, Aircraft Lightning Zoning Standard, ED-91, 1998], has been presented. Zoning proves to be quite similar between the three types of aircraft. Thanks to the feed-back on lightning strikes to Falcon, lightning traces have been observed on the fuselage for different flight conditions and aircraft. Observations are compared with the zoning performed by Dassault. A physical model, developed by ONERA, was used to simulate the sweeping of lightning on the fuselage of a Falcon 900. The results are in good agreement with the lightning traces observed on the fuselages.     

Electromagnetic waves observed by Venus Express at periapsis: Detection and analysis techniques

The magnetometer on Venus Express was designed to be able to obtain 128 Hz samples of the magnetic field from two sensors in a gradiometer configuration. This mode is used around periapsis to determine whether the signals reported at low altitudes near 100 Hz, had the properties of electromagnetic waves generated by electric discharges in the Venus atmosphere. The lack of a magnetic cleanliness program and the shortness of the magnetometer boom make this a challenging measurement. Fortunately the signals are sufficiently strong that they can be easily resolved with rather straightforward analysis techniques.     

One-to-one relationship between low latitude whistlers and conjugate source lightning discharges and their propagation characteristics

One-to-one relation with its causative lightning discharges and propagation features of night-time whistlers recorded at low-latitude station, Allahabad (geomag. lat. 16.05°N, L = 1.08), India, from continuous observations made during 1–7 April, 2011 have been studied. The whistler observations were made using the Automatic Whistler Detector (AWD) system and AWESOME VLF receiver. The causative lightning strikes of whistlers were checked in data provided by World-Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN). A total of 32 whistlers were observed out of which 23 were correlated with their causative lightnings in and around the conjugate location (geom. lat. 9.87°S) of Allahabad. A multi-flash whistler is also observed on 1 April with dispersions 15.3, 17.5 and 13.6 s^1/2. About 70% (23 out of 32) whistlers were correlated with the WWLLN detected causative lightnings in the conjugate region which supports the ducted mode of propagation at low latitude. The multi-flash and short whistlers also propagated most likely in the ducted mode to this station.     

碳纤维复合材料基体改性/铜网组合雷击防护性能的研究

传统碳纤维复合材料（CFRP）树脂基体导电性差易遭受雷击损伤,本文使用石墨烯-镀镍碳纤维粉作为导电填料,对树脂基体进行电导率改性,并在表面铺设铜网,进行模拟雷电流冲击试验,检验基体改性/铜网组合雷击防护效果。试验结果表明,树脂基体改性后CFRP层压板在0°、90°纤维方向及厚度方向电导率分别为1.1571×10⁴、1.0871×10⁴、204.2 S/m,分别提高1.54倍、1.16倍、433.47倍。200 kA模拟雷电流A波冲击下,无防护试件雷击附着后明火燃烧,次生效应持续,而单一铜网防护和组合防护则能抑制次生效应;无防护表面最大损伤直径14.62 cm,此能量下铜网被击穿,单一铜网防护表面最大损伤直径19.05 cm,而组合防护表面最大损伤直径8.93 cm,下降53.12%;相比无防护试件,单一铜网和组合防护内部损伤面积分别下降66.2%和96.7%。单一铜网击穿后,树脂烧蚀后产生汽化反冲,增大损伤铜网脱落面积;组合防护铜网击穿后,改性树脂迅速导走电流,减小铜网脱落和内部烧蚀面积。     

Microstructural characterization and mechanical behavior analysis of 7075-T6 aluminum subjected to simulated lightning strikes

Aircrafts damages caused by lightning strikes have been known since the early days of aviation. However, the physical effects on the aircraft structure are still being investigated. This work seeks to evaluate the lightning strike effects in the aluminum alloy 7075-T6. Samples were submitted to lightning strike simulation in laboratory and the damages evaluated through characterization techniques. Ultrasound and profilometry tests have shown material loss to 0.272 mm depth in the damaged region. In addition, it was detected the material accumulation occurrence in the damage vicinity of the region. Below the damage, it was found a region where metallurgical changes were identified. The tensile and microhardness tests results have shown reduction in the percentage elongation and hardness increasing in the material affected by lightning. These results are corroborated by the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Rietveld Method (red line) that indicated an increasing in dislocation density and micro-deformation in the material matrix. Optical microscopy results have shown the presence of microcracks on the normal and cross-section surface of the samples damaged. The Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDXS) and Electron Backscattered Diffraction Test (EBSD) found coarse intermetallic phases and precipitates compounds with dimensions greater than 1 μm in length. They were responsible for nucleation of the microcracks that propagate along the material grain boundaries.     

闪电成像仪的实验室定标

闪电成像仪是对地静止的天底成像遥感器,被优化适于在白天和夜间探测和定位闪电。实验室定标是发射前的业务,其作用在于保证遥感器在轨运行的性能。文章着重讨论实验室性能定标。     

FY-4闪电成像仪实时事件处理器(RTEP)的FPGA设计研究

闪电是中尺度,特别是中-γ尺度天气系统研究的有力工具。闪电成像仪主要利用4种方法 组合来实现闪电信号的增强与探测。这4种方法是:光谱滤波、空间滤波、时间滤波、帧-帧背景去除。实时 事件处理器(RTEP)是实现帧一帧背景去除的最为有效的手段,它是提取闪电信号的重要途径。实时事件处 理器是一个实时数字信号处理系统,在2ms的时间内要完成12 bit量化的512×512个像素的信号数据处理, 探测出闪电信号。文章论述了实时事件处理器RTEP的必要性,实现原理,以及FPGA实现方案。     

复合材料飞机闪电防护设计

飞机的闪电防护设计是一项涉及到多个专业的综合性技术,具体来说,飞机结构、飞控、燃油、航电等专业都必须在设计时考虑闪电防护.随着复合材料技术的发展,运用全复合材料进行通用飞机的设计制造已越来越广泛.由于复合材料和金属材料的差异性,其闪电防护设计具有完全不同的特点.本文根据国内外研究发展趋势,阐述复合材料飞机的闪电防护设计技术以及适航验证的方法.     

Rare observation of daytime whistlers at very low latitude (L = 1.08)

The source region and propagation mechanism of low latitude whistlers (Geomag. lat. <30°) have puzzled scientific community for last many decades. In view of recent reports, there is consensus on the source region of low latitude whistlers in the vicinity of the conjugate point. But the plausible conditions of ionospheric medium through which they travel are still uncertain. In addition to that, the whistlers in daytime are never observed at geomagnetic latitudes less than 20°. Here, for the first time, we present a rare observations of whistlers during sunlit hours from a very low-latitude station Allahabad (Geomag. Lat: 16.79°N, L = 1.08) in India on 04 February 2011. More than 90 whistlers are recorded during 1200–1300 UT during which the whole propagation path from lightning source region to whistler observation site is under sunlit. The favorable factors that facilitated the whistlers prior to the sunset are investigated in terms of source lightning characteristics, geomagnetic and background ionospheric medium conditions. The whistler activity period was found to be geomagnetically quiet. However, a significant suppression in ionospheric total electron content (TEC) compared to its quiet day average is found. This shows that background ionospheric conditions may play a key role in low latitude whistler propagation. This study reveals that whistlers can occur under sunlit hours at latitudes as low as L = 1.08 when the source lightning and ionospheric medium characteristics are optimally favorable.