Investigation of Microwave Electromagnetic Field Characteristics inside Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic Structures - Fundamental Electromagnetic Characteristics of Composite Materials for Aircrafts

摘要

This report discusses the microwave electromagnetic field characteristics inside the carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) structures. The microwave electromagnetic field characteristics inside a CFRP structure are evaluated using a reverberation chamber method. To examine the differences between a metallic structure and a CFRP structure, the quality factors of a rectangular reverberation chamber are measured. The sidewall of the reverberation chamber, at a size of 2.1 m × 1.8 m, is replaced with CFRP panels. Firstly, to evaluate the field uniformity of the chamber, the standard deviation of the measured average and maximum electric field (E-field) strength inside the chamber is confirmed to be less than 2 dB between 500 MHz and 6 GHz. The cumulative distribution functions of the E-field strength are in good agreement with the theoretical Rayleigh distribution. Then, the quality factor of the chamber with the aluminum and the CFRP sidewalls are almost the same and no significant difference is observed.