A Review of Using Conductive Composite Materials in Solving Lightening Strike and Ice Accumulation Problems in Aviation

Abstract

There are many problems facing aircraft in the air during flight, such as lightning strikes and ice accumulation on aircraft surfaces. These problems usually reduce aircraft efficiency and lead to serious accidents and fatalities. However, the current protection systems used to solve these problems of aircraft represent excessive energy usage, a hazard to the environment, and they are generally bulky, heavy and costly. Therefore, there are new conductive composites containing an embedded layer of conductive fibers such as graphene and carbon nanotube designed to carry lightning currents, in addition to that, there is a new deicing heater element made of graphene nanoribbons films to be used in ice protection systems. This paper presents a review of some problems facing aircraft in the air, such as lightning and ice accumulation on the surfaces of the aircraft and the significant efforts that have been exerted to address and solve these issues. Also, this paper reviews the contribution of composite materials in reducing the weight of the aircraft and fuel consumption as well as increasing the efficiency of aircraft. This paper also will review the conductive composite materials and its application for aviation, in addition to their contribution to solving the most important problems in aviation.

Effect of rigid nanoparticles and preparation techniques on the performances of poly(lactic acid) nanocomposites: A review

“…PLA is commercially sourced from renewable resources and can be processed easily by any of the conventional thermoplastic techniques 13 . It is environmental friendly and has competitive physical and mechanical properties 14,15 that have been used in advanced material applications such as shape memory, 16 electrical and electronic devices, 17 automotive, aeronautic and aerospace 18,19 . These features, including its degradability, make PLA an attractive substitute to petro‐plastics that take excessive long period to degrade, up to a few hundred years 15,20 .…”

Electrical Current Map and Bulk Conductivity of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Nanocomposites

“…To fully apply composite materials in wide extent in aircraft vehicles, several drawbacks still need to be overcome, such as a suitable electrical conductivity to better cover several functions (e.g., lightning strike and electromagnetic compatibility issues) and continuous enhancement of fire safety in aviation materials. Many relevant achievements have been described in the literature in this direction [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. Many functions can be conferred to aeronautical composites by proper use of nanotechnology, for example by embedding nanostructured materials with exceptional properties, like carbon nanotubes (CNTs), in aeronautical grade epoxy resins before or during the manufacturing processes [11,12,13,14,15,16].…”

Low-Voltage Icing Protection Film for Automotive and Aeronautical Industries

“…Joule heating is an energy-efficient method of ice removal that can be capable of real-time de-icing. The choice fell on systems loaded with carbon fillers to replace metal-based electrical heating devices, which present various drawbacks such as high production costs, emission of the electromagnetic wave and oxidative corrosion [ 11 ]. Carbon nanotubes [ 12 , 13 ], graphite derivatives [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ] and graphene nanoribbons [ 18 ] have become the first candidates to develop polymeric matrices or functional coatings able to confer anti/de-icing ability to polymeric systems.…”