Radio-wave shielding behavior of steel structures

Abstract

The shielding of radio wave by steel-containing structures is desirable for electronics protection but undesirable for telecommunication signal reception. This work investigates the shielding behavior of steel structures consisting of members in various configurations, with the practical aim of determining how the configuration can be exploited to control the shielding. Differently oriented continuous steel reinforcement (stranded/unstranded wires in the unidirectional, crossply and planar coil configurations) are evaluated for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding at 600–2000 MHz, using unpolarized radiation. The absorption loss SE_A dominates the reflection loss SE_R. The crossply configuration gives the highest SE_A, SE_A/thickness and SE_A/SE_T (SE_T = total loss); the planar coil configuration gives the lowest values. The SE_A, SE_A/thickness and SE_A/SE_T are moderately higher for the crossply configuration than the unidirectional configuration, because steel’s electrical isotropy allows the 0° electric field to interact with the 90° wire. The SE_A/SE_T is comparable for the stranded and unstranded wires.

KEYWORDS:

• Electromagnetic
• EMI
• shielding
• steel
• stranded wire
• absorption
• reflection
• radio wave

Acknowledgement

Ozturk is supported in part by a grant (2214-A, International Research Fellowship) from Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey [grant number 2214-A, International Research Fellowship].