High Voltage Laboratory Development: An in-depth Description and Report on the Process of Fabricating a Faraday Cage

Abstract

This thesis examines the quality of protection a Faraday cage provides against electromagnetic fields. The necessary theory to examine and calculate the shielding effectiveness of a Faraday cage, discuss obtained results and conclude the study is collected by researching scientific articles, master theses, books and formula collections published by various antenna manufacturers. The elements of projecting and fabricating a shielded enclosure are detailed from theory, practices and regulations, while the circuit method is used to calculate theoretical shielding effectiveness based on chosen components and materials. Requirement for shielding effectiveness is met across all frequencies on all surfaces, while the requirement for an analogue observation capability have trumped attenuation requirements for windows and the resulting lowered attenuation has been accepted as a compromise. Highest recorded value for leaked electromagnetic radiation with value of -80 dBm at frequency 117MHz is estimated to a value of approximately 350 pW/m^2 which is within the ICNIRP international guidelines for general public exposure to electromagnetic fields.