Modeling of thermal response and ablation in laminated glass fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites due to lightning strike

Thermal response and ablation of laminated glass fiber reinforced polymer matrix composites subjected to lightning strike are studied. The associated nonlinear time-dependent heat transfer model includes specific features of lightning arcs observed in physical measurements such as lightning channel radius expansion, non-uniform lightning current density, and associated heat flux. Moving spatially and temporally non-uniform lightning-current-induced heat flux boundary and moving boundary due to material phase transition caused by rapid surface ablation are also included. To predict moving phase boundary in the laminated anisotropic composites, an element deletion method is developed and embedded into finite element analysis (FEA), which is performed using ABAQUS. The Umeshmotion + ALE method based on the user subroutine Umeshmotion and arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) adaptive mesh technique is also used, when applicable (i.e., moving phase boundary is confined within a top layer of the composite laminate). Heat transfer analysis is performed for a non-conductive laminated glass fiber reinforced polymer matrix composite panel representing the SNL 100-00 wind turbine tip. Thermal response of the panel subjected to pulsed and continuing lightning currents at three different lightning protection levels, LPL I, LPL II, and LPL III, is studied. Temperature-dependent anisotropic thermal properties of the composite panel are included in the analysis. The FEA results include temperature distributions and ablation zone profiles. The results show the Umeshmotion + ALE method is sufficient for the pulsed lightning current at all three LPL levels since the moving phase boundary, i.e. the ablation front, is found to be confined within the top layer of the laminate. For the continuing lightning currents at all three LPL levels, the Umeshmotion + ALE method is not applicable since the moving phase boundary comes to rest at depths exceeding the thickness of the top layer of the composite laminate.