The Electrostatic Safety Assessment Methods for Integrated Composite Fuel Tank Based on the Airworthiness Verification

Abstract

Integral composite fuel tank refers to that the main key parts or the all force components are made of composite and participate in the whole force acting on the wing. Fully comprehensive utilization of the wing structure can be made by the use of integral fuel tank structure. And the weight could be reduced drastically by the use of composite. Although the composite material has so many advantages, it has a lower conductivity compared with metal which can easily cause the accumulation of electrostatic charges and may lead to fire or explosion as a result of that. So, the design and assessment of electrostatic safety of the integral composite fuel tank seem to be a so important task that even the airworthiness regulations have made requests. In this paper, the background of the fuel tank electrostatic safety had been illustrated, and the necessity of the assessment of such kind of tank had been demonstrated. At last, the test items and assessment ways had been discussed.