Analysis of the effect of different absorber materials and loading on the shielding effectiveness of a metallic enclosure

Abstract

Metallic rooms as part of a complex system, like a ship, are necessarily connected electromagnetically via apertures and cables to the outside. Therefore, their electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (SE) is limited by ventilation openings, cable feed-throughs and door gaps. Thus, electronic equipment inside these rooms is susceptible to outer electromagnetic threats like IEM (Intentional Electromagnetic Interference). Dielectric or magnetic absorber inside such a screened room can be used in order to prevent the SE from collapsing at the resonant frequencies. In this contribution, the effect of different available absorber materials is compared, as well as other properties like weight and workability. Furthermore, parameter variations of the absorber as well as the effect of loading in form of metallic and dielectric structures on the SE are analyzed.