Evaluation of Electromagnetic Pulse Shielding Performance of Carbon Fiber-Mixed Cement Paste

Abstract

This study investigated the physical properties and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) shielding performance of cement paste containing small-diameter carbon fibers to develop an EMP-shielding cement. Small-diameter carbon fibers were used as a cement admixture because the powders were approximately 100 μm in length and were visually powder-shaped. As a result of the experiment, it was indicated that ordinary Portland cement do not have shielding performance. However, cement paste with 5% carbon fibers showed effectiveness in compressive strength and EMP shielding. However, the shielding performance did not increase when the cement contained more than 5% carbon fibers. Furthermore, a review of the EMP shielding performance relative to the thickness of the specimen showed that the plain cement without small-diameter carbon fibers did not increase the shielding performance with an increase in thickness, but the shielding performance of the specimens with small-diameter carbon fibers increased with an increase in thickness. Therefore, it was more effective to increase the thickness of the cement containing 5% carbon fibers rather than increasing the carbon fiber content.