The Leakage Power Density and Electromagnetic Shielding Effectiveness of Conductive Woven Fabrics

Abstract

This paper presents a study on the development of stainless steel/polyester (SS/PET), stainless steel/rayon (SS/RS), and stainless steel/Kevlar (SS/KS) woven fabrics for shielding the power leakage of microwave oven applications. To facilitate weaving of stainless steel wires and to reduce the material cost initially the core-spun yarns of stainless steel and man-made staple fibers were produced by a DREF III open-end spinning method. The core-spun yarns were woven into a variety of woven structures that woven from a Picanol Rapier loom successfully. Primary objects of this research are to develop new conductive core-spun yarns and fabrics, which could be suitable for shielding home electronic and electrical appliance from electrical and magnetic fields at high frequency. Using a coaxial transmission line holder system set-up, the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (EMSE) of various woven fabrics was determined in the frequency range from 300 kHz to 3 GHz. The leakage power detector measures the leakage power density (LPD) of the microwave oven. The variations of EMSE and LPD with the yarn constructions, woven structures and the blend ratio of stainless steel to the man-made fiber in the yarns are also described.