Electrical and Thermal Phenomena in Anisotropic CFRP Composite Panels

Carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) has both high strength and light weight, and has been recently applied to wind turbine blades and aircraft bodies as a material with quasi-isotropic strength by stacking layers with different fiber directions, with the aim of reducing fuel consumption as well as CO2 emissions. When a wind turbine blade or aircraft using CFRP is struck by lightning, the lightning current distribution near the surface of the CFRP parts becomes more complex compared to a metal case, especially due to its anisotropy in electrical conductivity, and there is a possibility that a high electric field will be generated locally. In addition, due to the nonlinear and anisotropic thermal conduction of energy generated by the large current, the resultant temperature distribution…