Electromagnetic shielding of thermal protection system for hypersonic vehicles

The numerical simulation and the measurement of electromagnetic shielding at microwave frequencies of thermal protection system for hypersonic vehicles is presented using nested reverberation chamber. An example of a possible thermal protection system for a re-entry vehicle is presented. This system based on carbon material is electromagnetically characterized. The characterization takes into account not only the materials but also the final assembly configuration of the thermal protection system. The frequency range is 2–8 GHz. The results of measurements and simulations show that the microwave shielding effectiveness of carbon materials is above 60 dB for a single tile and that the tile inter-distance is able to downgrade the shielding effectiveness on the average to about 40 dB.

► The tile-to-tile gap in a thermal protection system has been analyzed.
► Electromagnetic shielding capability was measured and numerically computed.
► Material losses enhance the gap field attenuation compared to good conductors.
► A typical gap of 1 mm ensures at least 40 dB within the 2–8 GHz frequency range.