4/3/2017

RUMBIDZAI ABIGAIL NYATSINE

R137294H
MICROWAVE ASSIGNMENT
DR P.MANYERE

QUESTION
1. What are the possible causes of a lightning strike on an aircraft
runway, explain in detail.

2. Give recommendations on the runway to avoid future strikes and

consider the following

i) Composition of material used to make the runway

ii) Structure and construction of the runway

iii) Properties of material used to construct the runway

 SOLUTION
ONE.
Lightning on the runway can be caused by the following:
1. Location of airport (Difference in currents from lightning strikes)
2. Failure of Lightning protection systems
3. Runway Construction
4. On runways, aircrafts often trigger lightning when flying through a heavily charged
region of a cloud. In these instances, the lightning flash originates at the airplane and
extends away in opposite directions and can affect airplanes up to five miles away
from the electrical centre of the cloud
5. When aircraft takes off the ground for example a rocket it will be fired up to take an
elevation of about 1000 feet trailing a long thin copper wire connected to the earth so
current from the charged earth travels up the wire, vaporizing it and creating a
conducting path that triggers a lightning flashback to the ground. The return stroke
hits a series of lightning rods above the rocket launcher.
TWO.
Material selection, finish selection, installation, and application of protective features
are important methods of future lightning-strike reduction.
The use of a counterpoise system to provide a path of low resistance for the energy of
a lightning strike to safely dissipate without causing damage to runway. The intent of
the counterpoise system is to intercept lightning strikes and dissipate lightning current
in the ground without arcing to the runway lighting system.
The aircraft's radome must be coated with lightning diverter strips along the outer
surface to protect the nose cone that contains radar and other flight instruments from
conductive enclosure. These strips can consist of solid metal bars or a series of closely
spaced buttons of conductive material affixed to a plastic strip that is bonded
adhesively to the radome. In many ways, diverter strips function like a lightning rod
on a building.
The thickness of the external metal surface must be sufficient enough to protect the
airplanes internal spaces from a lightning strike and also to protect against the
entrance of electromagnetic energy into the electrical wires of the airplane.
The continuous measurement of ground impedance, continuity and taking other
preventive maintenance steps.
The runway and aircraft must have:
a) Wire bundle shields.
b) Ground straps.
c) Composite structure expanded foils, wire mesh, aluminium flame spray
coating, embedded metallic wire, metallic picture frames, diverter strips,
metallic foil liners, coated glass fabric, and bonded aluminium foil
Most aircraft skins consist primarily of aluminium, which conducts electricity very
well. By making sure that no gaps exist in this conductive path, the engineer can
assure that most of the lightning current will remain on the exterior of the aircraft.
Some modern aircraft are made of advanced composite materials, which by
 themselves are significantly less conductive than aluminium. In this case, the
composites contain an embedded layer of conductive fibres or screens designed to
carry lightning currents.
Careful shielding, grounding and the application of surge suppression devices avert
problems caused by indirect effects in cables and equipment when necessary in
modern runways which have miles of wires and dozens of computers and other
instruments that control aircraft and these computers are susceptible to upset from
power surges. So lightning protection engineer must make sure that no damaging
surges or transients can reach the sensitive equipment inside the aircraft.