How can you stop lightning damage? The fact is, you can’t actually stop lightning, but you can redirect it. This we have discussed in our other blogs. Today we are here to tell you the different type of damage, how to identify them and protect your facility, personnel and other assets.

A lightning strike can cause significant structural damage to a building. It can lead to damaged machinery and equipment, both inside and outside the building and may result in harm to people.

There are four basic types of lightning damage: physical damage, secondary effect damage, electromagnetic effect damage, and damage caused by changes in ground reference potential.

Ground reference potential

The lightning current that falls on a lightning conductor causes an increase in the earth potential of an installation, which will cause an overvoltage between the earthing system and the internal lines within the installation. This overvoltage spreads to neighbouring installations via the distribution network. When a lightning strike hits the ground or an item near the building (prominence, tree, post, etc.) directly, there is a similar increase in the earth potential causing over voltages in installations near the strike, via their earthing electrodes.

Lightning damage by electromagnetic effect

The lightning discharge current, whether by direct strike or carried by a lightning down conductor, generates a field whose electrical and magnetic components reach considerable voltage. This electromagnetic field can induce electrical currents in nearby conductors, including wires and electrical equipment. The current induced by electromagnetic effect can easily be sufficient to cause damage.

Secondary effect damage

Indirect effects can also be damaging. For example if lightning strikes a building transient, over voltages maybe caused through resistive, inductive and capacitive coupling. If it takes place:

• Within a flammable material, it can cause a fire or explosion.
• Within a bearing, such as in a pump in a treatment plant, it can scar the bearing and cause premature wear.
• On a circuit board, it can damage the circuit board.

Here are some things that can be done to minimize lightning damage

One of the simplest methods to prevent lightning damage is to install a lightning protection system.

Lightning will strike whatever it desires, buildings, trees, mountains, cars, etc. so it’s important to be aware of both direct and indirect lightning strikes and the damages that they can create.

For more information regarding preventing lightning strikes and its consequent damages by installing DAS lightning protection system, contact our lightning eliminator engineers today!