Title:  Effect of Insulating Layer on Polyaniline-Based Lightning Strike Protection Coatings for CFRP Aircraft.

Objective

• Optimize doped-polyaniline (PANI/DBSA, PD or PDD) conductive coating thickness for 40 kA lightning current exposure.

• Evaluate the effect of introducing an insulating layer between the conductive coating and CFRP laminate.

• Determine optimal insulating-layer thickness for improved lightning strike protection and post-strike repairability.

Approach / Technology

• Fabricated CFRP laminates with various PANI-based conductive film thicknesses, with and without insulating layers.

• Employed microscopy, ultrasonic inspection, conductivity measurements, and mechanical (bending) tests pre- and post-strike to quantify damage and residual performance.

• Performed grounding response measurements (ns-scale) for different coating/insulation configurations under simulated lightning conditions.

Key outcomes / metrics

• Identified optimal PANI coating and insulation combinations for fast, stable grounding under lightning currents.

• Demonstrated that thicker coatings (~0.48 mm) with double insulation deliver the best grounding performance (~12 ns).

• Established clear correlations between coating thickness, insulation strategy, and lightning-induced damage behavior.

Title: Design and development of polyaniline-based multifunctional structural composites.

Objective

Create a structural conductive polymer system that provides strain sensing, EMI shielding, and lightning strike protection without materially increasing mass.

Approach / Technology

• Polyaniline (PANI) doped with DBSA + DVB crosslinker.

• Fabrication as impregnated composite or as bonded conductive layers on GFRP/CFRP.

• Characterisation for piezoresistive sensing, shielding (X-band), and lightning-strike robustness.

Key outcomes / metrics

• Piezoresistive strain sensing with linear response and verified reliability.

• EMI shielding up to ~20 dB (bulk) and ~45 dB when bonded to CFRP at ~90 S/m conductivity.

• Lightning strike protection demonstrated; a 0.4 mm conductive layer at ~50 S/m retained ≈90% residual strength after −40 kA tests.

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Title: Damage study of CFRP composites using infrared thermography.

Objective

Detect and characterise damage initiation and progression in CFRP under static and quasi-static loading.

Approach / Technology

• Passive and active infrared thermography (lock-in, transient).

• Thermoelastic stress analysis and image processing.

• Microscopic validation of thermogram-identified damage regions.

Key outcomes

• Demonstrated correlation between thermoelastic temperature signatures and micro-damage.

• Validated active thermography (lock-in & transient) for early damage detection.

[Download thesis PDF]