In-flight Lightning Damage Assessment System - First measurements in flight

Jean-François Boissin, Flight and Integration Test Centre, Airbus Operation SAS, Toulouse, France

Abstract

The In-flight Lightning Strike Damage Assessment project, named ILDAS, was a research project within the scope of the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Commission. The aim of ILDAS was to validate the concept and the associated prototype instrumentation of a system capable to measure in flight the different lightning strike parameters.

Based on the ILDAS success and the expected benefits for scientific and industrial communities, Airbus decided to continue the In flight Lightning Damage Assessment System story through the ILDAS2 project.

The first reason of the Airbus participation on the ILDAS2 project deals with the regulatory lightning environment. This one is defined from a limited knowledge of the lightning interaction on a flying aircraft and a limited number of in-flight measurements obtained on experimental aircraft since 40 years. There is an important need for Airbus to consolidate this environment from a broader set of in-flight measurements in order to manage the reliability requirements, about the CFRP elements for example, in addition to the safety requirements. Moreover, this will be used to feed the regulatory committees for driving an updating of the standards if necessary, making Airbus in a leadership position.

The second reason turns around the new aircraft generation making extensive use of composite that is more prone to lightning damage. It must be very beneficial for Airbus to have the capability within a flight test programme, A350 for example, to correlate the events observed in flight with the severity of the strike. This could open the door to some design optimizations.

The third reason concerns the current maintenance procedures after a lightning occurrence which are time consuming. Airbus estimates that a better knowledge of the lightning event, like the severity and the attachment points, would make possible a further optimisation of the maintenance inspection and the repair procedures.

After reviewing the ILDAS project description and conclusions, this paper describes the ILDAS2 objectives, status and projection. The key steps of the validation and verification strategy until the ILDAS2 maturity planned during the A350 flight test campaign and the first in-flight measurements recorded are presented.