Variability of dual TEM cell shielding effectiveness measurements for vapor grown carbon nanofiber/vinyl ester composites

Shielding effectiveness measurements have been performed on a vapor grown carbon fiber (VGCF)/vinyl ester (VE) composite material over a frequency range of 10 MHz to 1 GHz using a dual TEM (DTEM) cell along with a vector network analyzer. A VGCF/VE composite sample containing 15% carbon fiber by weight is utilized in the measurements. The electric and magnetic shielding effectiveness of the VGCF/VE composite are measured in the form of electric and magnetic field insertion losses. The shielding effectiveness results for the VGCF/VE composite are shown to exhibit significant variation with regard to the placement of the composite sample in the DTEM cell. The electric field insertion loss of the VGCF/VE composite is found to be more highly variable from measurement to measurement than the magnetic field insertion loss.