Initiation of electrical discharge at the triple junction of the lightning protection of an aircraft radome

Padoan, F., Clark, D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1090-2361, Haddad, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4153-6146, Karch, C. and Westphal, P. 2022. Initiation of electrical discharge at the triple junction of the lightning protection of an aircraft radome. Presented at: International Conference On Lightning and Static Electricity ICOLSE, Madrid, Spain, 12-15 September 2022.

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Abstract

The shape of the radar antenna and its lightning protection diverter strips can cause air ionization and streamer inception, which may lead to lightning attachment. In this paper, we are particularly investigating the field enhancement at the triple junction point formed by the metallic diverter strip, the radome material and the surrounding air. In this work, a tangent ogive shape radome geometry has been implemented in the simulation, adopting the EUROCAE standard configuration for lightning laboratory tests, to compute the magnitude of electric fields in the dielectric material and its surrounding air, and to evaluate the temperature conditions at the triple junction point using Magnetohydrodynamic equations. Various solid diverter strip design geometries have been then considered with the aim to control the discharge initiation and reduce the electromagnetic shielding effect on the radar’s electromagnetic signal. Laboratory tests were conducted on a commercial aircraft radome to validate the simulations.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Engineering
Subjects:	T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering T Technology > TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	27 September 2022
Last Modified:	10 Jun 2023 01:51
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/152900

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