Fastener Lightning Current Assessment in Aircraft Fuel Tank

This paper proposes an approach for the lightning current assessment in an aircraft fuel tank taking into account the variability of the fastener resistance. The electromagnetic fastener model is a wire with a resistance. The uncertainty model is a log-normal probability law established in previous work from a measurement database. Each fastener resistance takes a probabilistic value according to this law. This model is included in a FDTD fuel tank modeling. Several simulations are performed in order to surround the measured currents at various locations of the fuel tank. The results highlight not only the approach validation but also the requirement of the use of an uncertainty model for the lightning current assessment.