UWE Bristol Engineering showcase 2015

Zebadiah McLeod
Masters in Aerospace Systems Engineering
Project Supervisor
Dr Pritesh Narayan Aerodynamics Lecturer
A look into the effects of Electromagnetic interference from mobile
phone use on-board aircrafts and the effectiveness of Electromagnetic
Shielding materials used in aircrafts
Introduction
Leading on from the work done last year the need to
enhance the shielding effectiveness of the materials
used during the construction of aircrafts was a concern.
This concern is addressed here and investigative looks
into the new materials used for constructions such as
carbon fibre are addressed along with descriptive
information on the future of the use of such materials
in the aerospace industry. The integration of carbon
fibre and its metallic rival aluminium has seen many
problems arise as the two materials are not compatible
and adverse corrosion can lead the aircraft to be
uncertified due to the dangers that can occur if left
unchecked.
Conclusion
The shielding effectiveness of aluminium and steel are
good but of course the industry has moved towards
other materials namely carbon fibre. Although actual
integration of carbon fibre and metal was not achieved
in this paper the literature research showed that it was
the way forward when it comes to improving the
shielding capabilities of carbon fibre as it is a major
safety issue if carbon fibre is used on aircraft as it
currently is. The threat from navigation systems being
interrupted and even the treat of lighting strikes is
enough cause for concern. Another major concern that
was realised in the literature survey was the fact that
the integration of metal and carbon fibre was more
complicated than first anticipated by the aerospace
industry. The major funding now for the research on
integrations tactics is being given by the big aerospace
companies for instance Airbus Germany to find a
solution to the problem.
Power Received Watts
DBm in -
0.0014
0.0012
0.001
0.0008
0.0006
0.0004
0.0002
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Relationship Between Power Received
and Power Transmitted 800Mhz
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4
Power Transmitted
Free Space Path Loss
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Distance in Km
Se…
Series1
Relevance
Throughout this project the relevance of
study has been a one of safety the
uncertainty of the harmfulness of EMI to
aircraft equipment hassled me to
undertake this project. Also with the
shielding capabilities the aim of which is to
allow for the use of mobile phones not to
be dangerous when emitting unintentional
radiation to the venerable parts of the
aircraft systems.
Research
The research and analysis done in the report
was done in order for us to better understand
the risks associated with the use of mobile
phone devices and other PEDs whilst on-board
aircrafts. The rationale of the regulations in
place today is another factor for the research
undertaken in the report. Many question the
effectiveness and the logic for disallowing the
use of mobile phones on board aircraft and
they feel the risk, if any, is minimal and not
realistic enough that restrictions should be in
place for such a long period of time. The main
objective of this report was to report/show with
statistical analysis the risks associated with the
avionics ban on certain types of PEDs.
Project summary
The Project summary is to effectively verify
the data that was obtained in the first part of
the project done last year. Leading on from
last year is the need to establish a link
between the materials used in aircraft
production and the shielding effectiveness.
These issues are addressed in the project.
Project Objectives
• To set up experiments to test the shielding
capabilities of new materials such as
Carbon Fibre
• Compare the data from the theoretical
model and real model
• Use the Excel model to calculate a new
worst case scenario
• Use Excel model to determine the validity
of the results from the spectrum analyser
• Create an experiment to test shielding
effectiveness of the carbon fibre
Project Conclusion
The theoretical model that was modeled in
the Microsoft software EXCEL was compared
to the actual experiments done last year. The
findings are presented in the report