Shielding Effectiveness of Carbon–Fiber Composite Aircraft Using Large Cavity Theory

This paper extends reverberation chamber theory to include chambers constructed out of non-metallic composite materials. This extension allows reverberation chamber theory to predict the shielding effectiveness (SE) of modern aluminum and composite aircraft. Existing theory is based on a power balance approach for aperture-excited cavities, and this paper extends it to include leakage through the cavity walls. Cavity excitation and power dissipation mechanisms are examined in detail, and the cavity SE is related to cavity energy loss in terms of the “quality factor.” SE measurements were made on a partially assembled Uncrewed Aerial System constructed with a carbon-fiber composite skin. The test-analysis agreement shows a high degree of correlation.