Conductive Lightweight Foam Cores for Lightning Strike Protection

Fibre‑based foam offers a more sustainable alternative with significantly lower environmental impact, and it can also be functionalised for a wide range of applications, including demanding sectors such as the aerospace industry. In the aviation and space industries, rigid foamed materials made from polyurethane and polymethacrylimide have traditionally been used.

This feasibility study is part of a larger project aimed at developing conductive bio‑based foams that function both as structural components and as protection against lightning strikes in aerospace applications. We identify two key advantages: 

• The potential to reduce carbon emissions by up to thirty‑fold during raw material production
• Reduced weight and simplified manufacturing processes by eliminating metal meshes, which typically serve no structural purpose. 

The project will generate foam samples to produce fundamental mechanical and electrical data, enabling analysis and prediction of material performance. These results, together with a comprehensive literature review, will provide the basis for evaluating whether bio‑based foams can replace polyacrylamide in high‑performance structural aircraft components.

The project team: Led by RISE, with GKN Aerospace as the primary stakeholder, while Rottneros and LayerOne will contribute specialised materials expertise.