TEM cells for whole aircraft EMV testing

Abstract

Transverse electromagnetic (TEM) cells offer one solution to the problem of EMV testing of whole vehicles at lower frequencies. This paper discusses computational electromagnetics (CEM) modelling used to investigate various TEM cell configurations in order to optimize the method for testing a military aircraft. A baseline for the study was achieved by comparing a simulated aircraft in the DSTO TEM cell, on an open area test site (OATS) and in free space. The model was then used to investigate improvements to the TEM cell performance by modifying its design. It is shown that by changing from a solid to wire septum, gains are achieved in the low frequency performance of the cell. We also report on studies of active TE mode resonance cancellation. All results are discussed with respect to implications for future TEM cell designs