StrikeTape lightning diverter strips were mentioned in a recent Aviation Week article about radome lightning protection. You can read the full article here.
Rain erosion, minute cracks, static discharge, and tiny amounts of moisture trapped inside the layers of laminate on your radome are just a few of the potential hazards that can spell trouble for an aircraft.
Or, as author Patrick Veillette, PhD., explained: “Even small amounts of water, which may “wick” into the fibrous materials, will freeze at altitude, causing delamination of layers. This can create a progressive failure of the radome materials. Any hole, regardless of size, can cause major damage to a radome since moisture can enter the radome wall and cause internal delamination.”
The Importance of Lightning Protection of Radomes
The article explained, in a section highlighting the need for protection such as StrikeTape diverter strips:
“According to FAA Advisory Circular 43-14, “Maintenance of Weather Radar Radomes,” the most frequent damage to radomes are holes in the structure caused by static discharges. As an aircraft flies through an electrically charged atmosphere, electrical charges accumulate on an aircraft’s surface, resulting in high voltage streamers being discharged from the aircraft’s pointy surfaces, to include the radome.
A properly designed and maintained radome must have the ability to shed this static electricity. Designers utilize a combination of anti-static coatings and lightning diverter strips. The diverter strips continuously collect static build-up and conduct it to the airframe without sparking or arcing.” – from Know Your Radome, An Important Structure, part 2 Aviation Week January 31, 2023
Know Your Radome part 1 featured important information about potential failures, including water ingress, with the illustration below.
A radome’s exterior surface is critical. … Seemingly miniscule cracks in the paint will allow moisture to enter the interior.
Patrick Veillette, Aviation Week, February 1, 2023
Know Your Radome part 3 featured more information on the need for lightning protections for aircrafts, including the use of diverter strips and specific FAA advisory circulars.
Without LPS like StrikeTape, lightning can puncture a radome. Static buildup – on fuselage-mounted antennas as well as on a radome – can also increase the likelihood of lightning damage.
StrikeTape is safe, effective, and easy to install. Find out more here, download the spec sheet, or contact us with questions.
New to the industry? See the SAE ARP Lightning Documents: What Engineers Need to Know about lightning zones and more here.
Resources: More information about radome failures and other causes of aircraft part failures can be found via the Poland State Commission on Aircraft Accident Investigation. StrikeTape was formerly known as Shine Diverters. The Struck podcast features technical information from and interviews with experts in aviation and lightning protection of aircraft.
