Utilization of aircraft bondline embedded current sensors in the determination of a lightning damage index

A system for predicting lightning strike damage to at least one type of aircraft, the system comprising:

• an adhesive layer of a cured bondline, embedded in the at least one type of aircraft, to pass electrical current through,
• wherein the electrical current has a magnetic field;
• a current sensor network embedded in the adhesive layer, wherein the current sensor network comprises at least one current sensor node, and wherein induced current is induced in the current sensor network in response to the magnetic field;
• the at least one current sensor node, embedded in the at least one type of aircraft, to sense the induced current, and to generate at least one current signal representative of the induced current;
• and
• at least one computer processor to determine electromagnetic density data associated with at least one region of the at least one type of aircraft by using the at least one current signal, and to create an index that provides a numeric representation for predicted lightning strike damage to the at least one type of aircraft based on the electromagnetic density data, dimensions of the at least one type of aircraft, and design features of the at least one type of aircraft.