Abstract

Based on the analysis of scientific and technical literature and trends in the development of multi-purpose aircrafts, we can see a steady extension of the use of polymer composite materials (PCM) in their design. The importance of lightning protection is noted for aircrafts, the skin of which consists mainly of the PCM, and it is shown that one of the common means is a lightning protection coating (LPC) in the form of a metal grid distributed in the PCM surface layer. Anisotropy of PCM properties and reduced fracture toughness in comparison with metals necessitates the improvement of PCM compositions and technologies of their formation as well as the development of methods for final hardening treatment in the cured state, which can be effectively performed under the effect of microwave electromagnetic field. Consideration is given to the influence of a short-term exposure to microwave electromagnetic field on the stability of carbon fiber-reinforced PCM with PLC against impact loads, as well as on the surface hardness. Our findings show a decrease in the damaged area of the impact zone by 40-60% and the absence of microcracking and delamination as well as an increase in hardness by 7.8%. Particular emphasis is placed on a 3-fold decrease in the spread of hardness values after the microwave exposure, this indicating a significant increase in the uniformity of this important characteristic for the component performance. As a mechanism of these modifications, it is proposed to reduce the pore size and porosity and to increase the number of points of contact interaction between matrix and fiber agglomerates that ensure an increase in the structural density.

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