A Global Circuit Tool for Modeling Lightning Indirect Effects on Aircraft

The topic of this study is electromagnetic environment and electromagnetic interference (EMI) effects, specifically the modeling of lightning indirect effects on aircraft electrical systems present on embedded and highly exposed equipments, such as nose landing gear (NLG) and nacelles, through a circuit approach. The main goal of the presented work, funded by a French national project, PREFACE, is to propose a simple equivalent electrical circuit to represent a geometrical structure, taking into account mutual, self-inductances, and resistances, which play a fundamental role in the lightning current distribution. Then this model is intended to be coupled to a functional one, describing a power train chain composed of a converter, a shielded power harness, and a motor or a set of resistors used as a load for the converter. The novelty here is to provide a pre-sizing qualitative approach allowing playing on integration in pre-design phases. This tool intends to offer a user-friendly way for replying rapidly to calls for tender, taking into account the lightning constraints.