Simulation research on the return conductor configuration of aircraft lightning indirect effect test

Abstract

The aircraft indirect effect test method was studied in this paper based on the numerical simulation method. Meanwhile the influence of the return conductor arrangement on the load matching and current distribution was also analyzed. The aircraft lightning test system models with coaxial return path were established, and their distribution parameters and the characteristic impedances were calculated. The current resonant under different load impedance was analyzed using one dimensional FDTD (finite-difference time-domain) algorithm. On this basis, the current density distributions on the surface of the fuselage with different return conductor arrangements were calculated by the simulation software CST. The conclusions provide foundation for the further research on the return conductor configuration of fixed wing aircraft lightning test.