Estimation of electromagnetic shielding properties of wire mesh with AL6061 composite material for oblique incidence

Abstract

Since composite materials were initially used in airplanes a few decades ago, substantial research has been done on problems such as lightning strike protection (LSP) and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. In the current state of technology, the aerospace industry needs cutting-edge materials to meet requirements like lower weight and higher values of strength and stiffness and protect against electromagnetic interference. On the other hand, the metallic mesh performs poorly at high frequencies (UHF and SHF). Many present and future equipment on airplanes can only operate in the frequency range referred to above. Metal wire mesh matrix composite (MWMMC) materials may be employed to shield airplanes against electromagnetic interference (EMI) as a result of this research. In this work, we made three different MWMMCs represented as MMC-1 with 95% AL6061+5% Fly ash, MMC-2 with 90% AL6061+10% Fly ash, and MMC-3 with 85% AL6061+15% Fly ash. In this article, a stir-casting method was used to try to make Al6061 metal matrix composites that were made stronger with different amounts of fly ash particles. With fly ash, the AL6061 metal matrix composite protects against lightning strikes. So that it may serve as an aircraft surface MWMMC. The material's thickness should be maintained as low as possible. It decided to explore oblique incidence with a different mix of fly ash, reinforced to pure AL6061, to provide more significant shielding to better approximate the signal toward the practical case. Compared to the plane sheet, the shielding effectiveness of the materials and the weight of the material will be reduced. In other words, the maximum shielding effectiveness obtained was 37dB and 20 dB. The shielding effectiveness of 40.5 dB of the manufactured composite is obtained, and it is beneficial for aerospace applications.

Investigation of Electromagnetic Shielding for Wire Mesh Composite for Aircraft against Lightning Strike

“…In particular, composite materials are excellent at both electrical and mechanical performance. It can increase composites' strength while maintaining high conductivity [18]. Reinforcing aluminum composites with other materials has the potential to improve their basic properties, which bodes well for the future.…”