MODEL STUDIES OF STROKE PROBABILITY TO SELECTED POINTS ON AEROSPACE VEHICLES 700915

About sixty-six uniformly spaced fixed probed positions are usually used for a general study to determine the probability of lightning stroke contact to various points on a complete aerospace vehicle. More detailed studies are usually considered prohibitive because of the large number of discharges required.

For estimating very low probability of contact for detailed studies of critical regions, probe positions can be restricted to the small solid angle from which contact is possible. Then, with a relatively small number of probe positions and enough discharges to measure statistical variations, a very low probability can be estimated with a limited number of discharges, typically about thirty.