To: alosaurus
On the A310 the design called for the use of “Rose Bushes” which were made of plastic and impregnated with graphite to allow the conduction of static electricity. If as I stated the slat were struck by lightening the graphite would cease to be a conductor and due to the extremely high voltages involved would become a resistor and heat up so rapidly as to cause a complete disconnect on the slat system. Since the flap system has the same “Rose Bushes” they too could be melted if a lightening strike were to pass to ground through the driveline.
The same thing would be true for rotor blades made of composite and these blades did not have a substructure of aluminum mesh under the graphite covering. I brought this problem up to the design manager on the Agusta A 129. I left the program so I don’t know if they changed the design of the blades.
Now we get to the Dunlop tires (tyres). It would seem to me that if the tires/tyres were compounded with excessive carbon to allow the bleeding of static electricity then what would happen if the aircraft were struck by lightening while it is on the ground. It would seem to me that it is the Rose Bushes all over again.
My previous statement about the bearings being in the current path would lead to a decrease in the reliability of the bearings due to static discharge erosion would still apply. That is unless they have a way of creating a bonding path that bypasses the bearings.
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The Cat