A Fast Method to Measure the Volume of a Large Cavity

Abstract

How to quickly and accurately measure the volume of a large cavity is challenging. This paper presents an efficient method to measure the volume of a large conducting cavity. The proposed method is based on statistical wave theory. By measuring the Q factor in the time and frequency domains, the volume of the cavity can be extracted. In the time domain, the Q factor can be extracted directly from the time domain response, while in the frequency domain, the Q factor depends on the volume of the cavity and the transferred power; the transferred power can be measured directly. By correcting the frequency domain Q with the radiation efficiency of antennas, the Q factors obtained from both the time and frequency domains are equal in a well-stirred chamber; this provides an opportunity to measure the volume of the cavity. Measurements are conducted to verify the proposed method. Although the measurement is conducted using electromagnetic waves, acoustic waves can also be used; in this case, the approach can be applied to any cavity, not limited to a conducting cavity. The advantages and the limitations of the proposed method are also discussed.

Keywords

• cavity volume measurement
• statistical electromagnetics
• statistical acoustics