Limitations of Lightning Rods in Preventing Direct Lightning Strikes

Since ancient times,lightning disasters have undoubtedly been an unstoppable threat to humanity.During thunderstorms,lightning often damages objects on the ground,such as buildings and structures.Since Franklin invented the lightning rod in 1752,lightning rods have been used worldwide to prevent direct lightning strikes in various fields such as high-voltage power transmission lines,outdoor chemical sites,highways,land and sea wind farms,and forest lightning fire protection.It has been proven that lightning accidents still occur frequently in places where lightning rods are installed and the protective angle method is used.In order to further study the protective effect of lightning rods and identify the shortcomings of lightning rod protection,negative lightning strikes are taken as the research object,to analyze the limitations of lightning rods in preventing direct lightning strikes from the working principle of lightning rods.

Investigation on a Typical Scattered Lightning Strike Case and Response Measures

From July 31 to August I in 2008, a strong thunderstorm process occurred in Neijiang of Sichuan Province, and a strange scattered light- ning strike phenomenon happened in office building of Dongxing Meteorological Bureau in Neijiang. Through a series of investigations and analyses, we found occurrence reason of the scattered lightning strike and improved lightning protection measures.

Analysis of a Lightning Strike Accident of a Rural House and Defensive Measures

A lightning strike accident of a residential house in the rural areas of Neijiang is analyzed through on-site investigation,and the causes are discussed. Defensive measures of lightning disasters are proposed to provide reference for the prevention of lightning disasters in the construction of new countryside.

Analytical modelling of the mechanical damage of soil induced by lightning strikes capturing electro-thermal,thermo-osmotic,and electro-osmotic effects

This article presents a mathematical model for simulating the mechanical behaviour of lightning strikes and analysing the resulting damage to the soil.This article focuses on the electro-thermal effect and seepage caused by lightning strikes in particular.Then,a numerical model based on the conservation laws of momentum,mass and energy is developed for soil subjected to lightning strikes.Comparisons to field observations and theoretical calculations are used to demonstrate the efficacy and accuracy of numerical simulations.The findings demonstrate that lightning strikes can cause soils to experience both seepage force and heat stress.Under the calculative condition of this article:by increasing the intrinsic permeability of the soil,k_(p)(≥10^(-10)m^(2)),the seepage force can be effectively reduced,hence reducing the risk of lightning strikes;improving the electrical conductivity of the soil β(≥10^(-1) S/m^(2))and lowering its thermal expansion coefficient(≤10^(-6)K^(-1))can greatly reduce the damage caused by lightning strikes to the soil.The preceding investigations demonstrate that the suggested model is capable of evaluating mechanical damage caused by lightning in the soil,and the findings contribute to a better understanding of soil mechanical response to lightning strikes.

Protective effect of compressing arc extinguishing lightning protection device on superimposed lightning strikes

Traditional lightning protection measures can not solve the problem of superimposed lightning strikes.This paper presents a compressing arc extinguishing lightning protection device,which can solve the problem of superimposed lightning strikes.This device can extinguish the power frequency continuous current arc quickly in 1-2 ms.It is far less than the response time of relay protection,which can avoid lightning trips and improve the reliability of power supply.The computer simulation and engineering practice show that the compressing arc extinguishing device has good protection effect on superimposed lightning strikes.

Preliminary Study on the Influence of Communication Station on Lightning Strike Risk in Its Neighboring Region

The communication stations are more easily struck by lightning because of its special geographical position. We proved theoretically that communication station increased the frequency and intensity of lightning strike in its neighboring region, thereby causing the increasing of lightning disaster loss. As long as the emphasis is put on the correct understanding and reasonably taking measures including： draining, grounding, equipo- tential bonding and shielding, it can be completely ensured that building and equipment of communication base station and its neighboring region are safe.

Microstructural characterization and mechanical behavior analysis of 7075-T6 aluminum subjected to simulated lightning strikes

Aircrafts damages caused by lightning strikes have been known since the early days of aviation.However,the physical effects on the aircraft structure are still being investigated.This work seeks to evaluate the lightning strike effects in the aluminum alloy 7075-T6.Samples were submitted to lightning strike simulation in laboratory and the damages evaluated through characterization techniques.Ultrasound and profilometry tests have shown material loss to 0.272 mm depth in the damaged region.In addition,it was detected the material accumulation occurrence in the damage vicinity of the region.Below the damage,it was found a region where metallurgical changes were identified.The tensile and microhardness tests results have shown reduction in the percentage elongation and hardness increasing in the material affected by lightning.These results are corroborated by the X-Ray Diffraction(XRD)and Rietveld Method(red line)that indicated an increasing in dislocation density and micro-deformation in the material matrix.Optical microscopy results have shown the presence of microcracks on the normal and cross-section surface of the samples damaged.The Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy(EDXS)and Electron Backscattered Diffraction Test(EBSD)found coarse intermetallic phases and precipitates compounds with dimensions greater than 1 lm in length.They were responsible for nucleation of the microcracks that propagate along the material grain boundaries.

Carbon nanotube protected composite laminate subjected to lightning strike:Interlaminar film distribution investigation

A kind of interlaminar film with carbon nanotubes inserted into polyether ketone with cardo was used for lightning strike protection of composite laminates. The distribution of the interlaminar film was investigated by experimental and numerical methods. Artificial lightning strike tests were conducted for 12-film carbon nanotube and traditional surface silver coating protected specimens. Then corresponding finite element models(FEMs) were established to analyze the lightning strike effect and validated by the experimental results. Based on the FEMs, the number, distribution and thickness of interlaminar film were investigated in order to obtain equivalent protection effect with the traditional surface silver coating. The results show that only the first two layers were damaged for the surface silver coating protected specimen, while 5 layers were ablated for the 12-film protected specimen. Lightning strike damage area of the laminate protected with 5-film carbon nanotube is almost the same as that of the laminate protected with 12-film carbon nanotube. Compared with traditional surface silver coating protection, one film protection with thickness of 360 lm can make the laminate to obtain equivalent damage depth, 54.8% smaller damage area and 58% less additional weight. And reparability of the laminate is better than that of the laminate protected with 5 interlaminar films.

多次雷电冲击对氧化锌避雷器阀片性能的影响(英文)

A lightning arrester is used for electrical equipment protection against damage due to lightning strikes.One example of protected electrical equipment is electrical power transformer.If there is no lightning arrester installed to the transformer,when a lightning strike happens,it may receive a very high lightning overvoltage,which is certainly resulted in the transformer damage at its insulation.Usually,a lightning arrester specification data attached to a lightning arrester contains the rating data of the lightning arrester current and voltage.In the use of lightning arrester,the possibility of receiving multiple lightning strikes is not taken into account sometimes.In fact,in some places,the number of multiple strikes in short duration is quiet high in number.This condition makes the lightning arrester being stroked by multiple lightning strikes.Therefore,it may change the lightning arrester's properties,and then the arrester may not be able to provide good electrical equipment protection against lightning strike anymore.This condition will result in great loss to electrical companies and electrical consumers.Therefore,this research studied the effect of applying multiple lightning strikes to ZnO lightning arrester block.Every time a group of lightning impulse current is applied to the ZnO lightning arrester block,it is followed by the measuring of its 50 Hz voltage and current characteristic. The changing in the ZnO lightning arrester block 50 Hz characteristic then can be analyzed.It was found that by applying more numbers of lightning strikes which made the arrester becoming worse,even though,actually,the lightning impulse peak current was still under the rating of the lightning arrester current.In this case for a 5 kA,24 kV lightning arrester,even though the lightning impulse peak current flowing through the ZnO lightning arrester block was still 2500 A,the lightning arrester ZnO block had already been damaged.Having been damaged,an alternating current flowing through the damaged ZnO block was about 10000 times as much current flowing to the good one.The maximum of impulse energy absorbed by a ZnO block recorded was 334.7 J/cm^3.The damaged ZnO block should be replaced by a good one.

A Short-Range Quantitative Precipitation Forecast Algorithm Using Back-Propagation Neural Network Approach

A back-propagation neural network （BPNN） was used to establish relationships between the shortrange （0-3-h） rainfall and the predictors ranging from extrapolative forecasts of radar reflectivity, satelliteestimated cloud-top temperature, lightning strike rates, and Nested Grid Model （NGM） outputs. Quan- titative precipitation forecasts （QPF） and the probabilities of categorical precipitation were obtained. Results of the BPNN algorithm were compared to the results obtained from the multiple linear regression algorithm for an independent dataset from the 1999 warm season over the continental United States. A sample forecast was made over the southeastern United States. Results showed that the BPNN categorical rainfall forecasts agreed well with Stage Ⅲ observations in terms of the size and shape of the area of rainfall. The BPNN tended to over-forecast the spatial extent of heavier rainfall amounts, but the positioning of the areas with rainfall ≥25.4 mm was still generally accurate. It appeared that the BPNN and linear regression approaches produce forecasts of very similar quality, although in some respects BPNN slightly outperformed the regression.

Electromagnetic Environment Impact of Mobile Communication Iron Tower on Adjacent Building and Its Countermeasures

For several lightning-strike disasters related to base station iron tower of mobile communication carrier operator, disaster-inducing factors were analyzed. The reason was as below： after lightning receptor of base station iron tower of mobile communication carder operator was struck by lightning, electromagnetic radiation was generated in the process lightning current leaking into the ground. In addition, it was lightning scattered- strike phenomenon induced by overhead lightning rod, that is, ground lightning falling density around overhead lightning rod was larger than mean at the site. Finally, some improvement measures were put forward.

Environmental impact assessment of aircraft elevator made with new lightning protection material

The non-metallic lightning strike protection film covering carbon fiber reinforced polymers(NM-LSP covering CFRP)can reduce the weight and thus the fuel consumption of aircraft by replacing the traditional lightning strike protection(LSP)materials.In the present study,in order to study the environmental influence of utilizing NM-LSP covering CFRP in an aircraft elevator,a new elevator was designed and manufactured,replacing the aluminium net and glass fiber reinforced polymers(GFRP)with NM-LSP covering CFRP,with the same mechanical and LSP abilities.A comparative life cycle assessment was conducted between the two kinds of aircraft elevators,including material extraction,transportation,elevator manufacturing phase,service phase,and end-of-life procedures.Additionally,the environmental impacts of producing two LSP materials were compared by considering the environmental effects of different buy-to-fly ratios and recycling strategies on the production of aluminium net.The analysis indicates that the new elevator achieved reduction for all the environmental impact categories used,such as human toxicity potential and marine aquatic ecotoxicity potential(3.83%and 3.20%reduction).Furthermore,it is found that the service phase makes the greatest contribution to the environmental impact of the elevators under investigation.When recycling is excluded,NM-LSP covering CFRP is more environmentally friendly than the traditional material.At the same time,CFRP prepreg and electricity from the production of NM-LSP covering CFRP contribute to a higher environmental impact compared to the NM-LSP film.From the sensitivity analysis,it is believed that NM-LSP covering CFRP can reduce environmental impact compared with traditional LSP materials.

Lightning ablation suppression of aircraft carbon/epoxy composite laminates by metal mesh

Three-dimensional finite element(FE)models of carbon/epoxy composite laminates with copper mesh and aluminum mesh protection were established subjected to lightning strike,in which different mesh spacing was selected.Effectiveness of numerical method was verified and impulse current waveforms with different current peaks were applied according to aircraft lightning zones.Thermal-electrical material parameters varying with temperature were added into numerical models.Element deletion method was used to deal with lightning ablation elements of composite structures.The results show that ablation area and depth of composite laminates with metal mesh protection are significantly smaller,which proves good protection effectiveness of metal meshes on anti-lightning strike.The denser the mesh spacing,the better the anti-lightning strike will be.Protection of composite laminates with copper mesh has better effects than that of aluminum mesh.Considering the effect of mesh spacing variation on composite structural weight and anti-lightning strike,the ideal mesh spacing was obtained.

Nearshore regional behavior of lightning interaction with wind turbines

The severity of lightning strikes on offshore wind turbines built along coastal and nearshore regions can pose safety concerns that are often overlooked.In this research study the behavior of electrical discharges for wind turbines that might be located in the nearshore regions along the East Coast of China and Sea of Japan were characterized using a physics-based model that accounted for a total of eleven different geometrical and lightning parameters.Utilizing the electrical potential field predicted using this model it was then possible to estimate the frequency of lightning strikes and the distribution of electrical loads utilizing established semi-empirical relationships and available data.The total number of annual lightning strikes on an offshore wind turbine was found to vary with hub elevation,extent of cloud cover,season and geographical location.The annual lightning strike rate on a wind turbine along the nearshore region on the Sea of Japan during the winter season was shown to be moderately larger compared to the lightning strike frequency on a turbine structure on the East Coast of China.Short duration electrical discharges,represented using marginal probability functions,were found to vary with season and geographical location,exhibiting trends consistent with the distribution of the electrical peak current.It was demonstrated that electrical discharges of moderately long duration typically occur in the winter months on the East Coast of China and the summer season along the Sea of Japan.In contrast,severe electrical discharges are typical of summer thunderstorms on the East Coast of China and winter frontal storm systems along the West Coast of Japan.The electrical charge and specific energy dissipated during lightning discharges on an offshore wind turbine was found to vary stochastically,with severe electrical discharges corresponding to large electrical currents of long duration.

Failure-analysis of carbon nanotubes and their extreme applications

The study of material failure is crucial for the design of engineering applications,as it can have significant social and economic impacts.Carbon nanotubes(CNTs),with their exceptional electrical,mechanical,and thermal properties,hold immense potential for a wide range of cutting-edge applications such as superstrong fiber,lightning strike protector,and even space elevator.This review provides an overview of the advancement in understanding the mechanical and electrical failure study of CNTs and their assemblies,serving as a comprehensive reference for utilizing CNTs in various forms.To begin,we emphasize the importance of studying material failure and provide a brief introduction to CNTs.Subsequently,we explore the mechanical and electrical failure characteristics of CNTs and their assemblies,along with notable examples of applications that utilize their failure-resistant properties,such as flywheel energy storage and lightning strike protection.Lastly,we present perspectives associated with analyzing CNT failure and its implications for extreme applications.