Graphene-Enhanced Composite Materials Improve Lightning-Strike Performance

The following is a sponsored post by Haydale

Haydale Composite Solutions are pleased to announce the production of 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.