Study of Metal Foams for Architectural Electromagnetic Shielding

Abstract

Porous metals have been used widely in aerospace and automobile industries due to their lightweight and reasonable mechanical properties. However, little research and experimental study has been carried out to explore the feasibility of extending porous metals in large-scale electromagnetic (EM) shielding applications. This paper begins with the EM modeling of the shielding effectiveness (SE) of common types of metal foams, and then the simulated results are validated experimentally. Finally, a shielded room is assembled and installed with modular metal foam panels. The SE of the installed shielded room is measured from 1–8 GHz, and promising shielding performance is demonstrated. With the comprehensive study, metal foam has been demonstrated to be an attractive option for large-scale architectural EM shielding applications without imposing structural loading issues.