Multidisciplinary characterization of new shield with metallic nanoparticles for composite aircrafts

摘要

Because of major advantages (e.g. weight saving, maintenance advantages), the airframe manufacturers use more and more Polymer Matrix Composites (PMCs) in different parts of aircraft structures. But PMCs have a substantial disadvantage of low conductivity and therefore low Electromagnetic (EM) Shielding. Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) sources are all around and inside aircraft and can potentially threat the immunity of aircraft. Metallic meshes have been used to overcome this shortage. However in high frequencies most of the mentioned methods loose their performances. Regrettably on one side most of the present and upcoming systems onboard of aircraft are functional in mentioned range of frequencies. On the other side, passengers use more and more Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs) onboard of aircraft. Interferences caused by PEDs are also in the same range of frequencies. Measured susceptibility caused by PEDs is higher in composite aircrafts comparing to metallic ones. To overcome this back door lack of composite aircrafts, design of a new light weight shield particularly for aeronautic application is needed. Metallic nanoparticles have a great potential to be used as new EM shields for aerospace applications, particularly in high frequencies. Without multidisciplinary characterization of new shield, the application onboard would be suspended. Here the encouraging results of EM characterization are presented. Thermal, microscopy and mechanical tests are also performed. Based on acquired results in this work, thermal and mechanical behaviors as well as distribution of particles are all acceptable. The promising results obtained in this work can assure the designers on using metallic nanoparticles as a new shield for protection of composite aircrafts.