Electromagnetic Fields and Effects Inside Aircraft Cabins, Cockpits, and Avionics Bays

Naval aircraft often are subject to electromagnetic interference (EMI) due to external radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic effects (EME) with field strengths in excess of 12,000 V/m generated by radars operating at 400 MHz and above. They are also subject to generally less intense fields produced by internal or external sources such as handheld radios and antennas mounted to the aircraft. This EMI may adversely affect the aircraft’s communication, navigation, and sensing systems. To quantitatively assess this vulnerability, simulation frameworks aimed at characterizing EMI inside loaded airframes subject to excitation and geometric uncertainties are necessary. Under this proposed effort, EMA will develop a multi-fidelity simulation framework (including a transfer impedance database) aimed at characterizing EMI in aircraft replete with navigation, communication, and sensing systems subject to excitation and geometric uncertainties. The experience gained and software developed over the past 40 years from EMA staff solving challenging HIRF, lightning and EMP problems will be heavily leveraged under this effort. The proposed framework is anticipated to permit the characterization of EMI in realistically modeled airframes up to 18 GHz by the completion of the Phase I effort.