Industrial application
Aircraft structure
Also known as airframe structure
The airframe and its components — fairings, control surfaces, floors, stabilisers and, on new large aircraft, wing and fuselage primary structure. Composites are used there for weight saving and corrosion resistance, and need added lightning protection.
Classification
- application category
- AEROSPACE
How this record is known
- 1
- Settled consensus
- Cited as the accepted position of the discipline.
1 of 1 claims on this page cite at least one registered source. Counts describe how each statement is known, not how likely it is to be true.
What Lithoen records
Each claim states how it is known and cites its evidence.
EstablishedExternal composite parts need a conductive lightning-protection ply.
Aircraft structure must dissipate lightning currents, which an aluminium airframe does by conduction; because carbon fibres are about 1,000 times more resistive than aluminium and epoxy resin about 1,000,000 times, the surface of an external composite part often carries a conductive ply — nickel-coated graphite cloth, copper or aluminium mesh, aluminised fibreglass or conductive paint — and a repair must restore the conductivity the part was designed with.
Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence · one source
Evidence: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Flight Standards Service 2023 · Primary authority
Record last updated 2026-10-30. Corrections follow the published corrections policy; superseded claims are retained, never silently edited.