Electromagnetic (EM) shielding is imperative in protecting electrical and electronic assets from natural and man-made EM threats.  The wide range of threats such as solar storms, electromagnetic pulse (EMP) including high-altitude EMP (HEMP) and intentional electromagnetic interference (IEMI), high power microwave (HPM), and electronic eavesdropping, requires versatile methods for providing protection and security.  Recently, the needs to maintain the resiliency of critical infrastructure facilities including the electric grid, sensitive data centers, and vital communication systems, against EMP events have become a growing concern globally.

The radio frequency (RF) shielding industry has provided EMP protection systems and services based on traditional methods of shielding that employ steel panel enclosures and wire mesh Faraday cages.  Their construction and maintenance become impractical or cost prohibitive for large EMP protected facilities such as command-and-control data-operation centers that can exceed 100,000 square feet.  In this talk, we review the development of conductive concrete mixtures as EM shielding construction materials that perform as RF absorbers.  We report on the experimental study for structural concrete shielding that achieved broadband shielding effectiveness (SE) performance from 10 kHz to 10 GHz.  The experimental results demonstrate that the concept of using conductive concrete for building shielded structures is feasible with standard construction practices.  We describe the implementation of conductive concrete for EMP shielding facilities and explore designs for SE performance. We discuss a number of applications that employ conductive concrete construction materials and methods for structural shielding.

Speaker(s): Dr. Lim Nguyen,

Location:
American University of Sharjah
Shrajah, United Arab Emirates