Figure of merit for low frequency anechoic chambers based on absorber reflection coefficients

Return loss as a function of frequency and angle of incidence is studied to determine the effectiveness of the absorbing material used in an anechoic chamber. This alone is not enough to determine a figure of merit for an anechoic chamber or to compare the figure of merit for one anechoic chamber to that of another. While the information gained from return loss calculations and measurements as a function of angle of incidence is valuable, an overall measure of anechoic chamber effectiveness is necessary in order to compare different designs. In this paper, a new chamber figure of merit which is based on the decay time of the chamber is introduced. This decay time is, in turn, based on the average power absorbed by the chamber walls. The resulting model is simple and does not require intensive numerical computation. Calculations of the figure of merit for anechoic chambers which contain different types of absorbing materials are shown, and calculated and measured values of decay time for a primary standards calibrations facility are compared.