Subjects of discussion in radiated emission measurements above 1 GHz

Some emission and susceptibility EMC standards already require measurements above 1 GHz or test site validations (IEC 2006, CISPR 2006). A simple assignment of the established measurement methods below 1 GHz to the frequency range above 1 GHz bears some risks. The ratio between the physical size of the equipment under test (EUT) and the wave-length rises with frequency. This increases the electrical size of the EUT. The directivity may become larger and the radiation pattern of the EUT is getting more complex which reduces the probability to detect the maximum emission with a simple planar cut scan. To analyse these effects in more detail this paper shows radiation characteristics of an exemplary EUT. The influence of a receiving antenna height scan and the angle increment of the turntable scan on the detection of the maximum of the electrical field strength will be discussed. As a result some ideas will be given to reduce the measurement time but keeping the reliability of the measurement results constant

Breakdown behavior of electronics at variable pulse repetition rates

The breakdown behavior of electronics exposed to single transient electromagnetic pulses is subject of investigations for several years. State-of-the-art pulse generators additionally provide the possibility to generate pulse sequences with variable pulse repetition rate. In this article the influence of this repetition rate variation on the breakdown behavior of electronic systems is described. For this purpose microcontroller systems are examined during line-led exposure to pulses with repetition rates between 1 KHz and 100 KHz. Special attention is given to breakdown thresholds and breakdown probabilities of the electronic devices

Pointer Image Theory Usage for Common Mode Current Prediction at Power Lines

This paper aims to explain the pointer image theory as a solution used to predict the common mode (CM) current at power lines, which is strongly related to radiated electromagnetic emissions. Techniques to measure the CM current at power lines in huge installations such as wind turbines (WT) are needed and novel methods are emerging. The WT tower may become an unintentional antenna due to the CM current flowing at its body through stray capacitances. The easiest way to measure the total CM current flow on a three-phase system is by measuring it using a device such as a current clamp or a Rogowski coil. This clamp must cover the whole 3-phase-cable bundle, however, the problem is that such a huge clamp or coil does not exist on the market, besides customized parts. The proposed method in this paper is to implement the pointer image theory to predict the CM current from a WT power plant. Laboratory measurements and SPICE simulations are used to show that the proposed method works well for CM current prediction

Hydrothermal activity and magma genesis along a propagating back-arc basin: Valu Fa Ridge (southern Lau Basin)

Valu Fa Ridge is an intraoceanic back-arc spreading center located at the southern prolongation of the Lau basin. Bathymetric observations as well as detailed sampling have been carried out along the spreading axis in order to trace hydrothermal and volcanic activity and to study magma generation processes. The survey shows that widespread lava flows from recent volcanic eruptions covered most of the Vai Lili hydrothermal vent field; only diffuse low-temperature discharge and the formation of thin layers of siliceous precipitates have been observed. Evidence of present-day hydrothermal activity at the Hine Hina site is indicated by a thermal anomaly in the overlying water column. Our studies did not reveal any signs of hydrothermal activity either above the seismically imaged magma chamber at 22°25′S or across the southern rift fault zone (22°51′S). Lavas recovered along the Valu Fa Ridge range from basaltic andesites to rhyolites with SiO2 contents higher than reported from any other intraoceanic back-arc basin. On the basis of the highly variable degrees of crystal fractionation along axis, the development of small disconnected magma bodies is suggested. In addition, the geochemical character of the volcanic rocks shows that the transition zone from oceanic spreading to propagating rifting is located south of the Hine Hina vent field in the vicinity of 22°35′S

Measured Response of Local, Mid-range and Far-range Discontinuities of Large Metal Groundplanes using Time Domain Techniques

This work describes a method to detect and to quantify any local or mid-range discontinuity on extended flat metal planes. Often these planes are used for antenna calibration (open area test site-OATS) or the plane could be the ground of a semi-anechoic chamber used in Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) testing. The measurement uncertainty of antenna calibration or EMC testing depends on the groundplane's quality, which can be accessed using this method. A vector network analyzer with time-domain option is used to determine the complex-valued input scattering parameter S̄11,F of an aperture antenna in a monostatic setup. S̄11,F contains the information desired about the discontinuities and is measured in the frequency domain with high dynamic range. But only after a linear filtering utilizing the Chirp-Z-Transform the obtained time-domain signal S̄11,T give clear evidence of local and mid-range discontinuities

Estimation of the threat of IEMI to complex electronic systems

The threat of ultra wideband (UWB) sources is interesting for military issues. This paper summarizes information concerning the voltages generated from some commercially available UWB generator systems and their produced electromagnetic fields. The paper focuses on the coupling of UWB fields into electronic equipment and discusses possible modeling and measurement techniques to estimate such a threat for modern ships. An evaluation procedure for the determination of the induced voltage at the input of an electronic component is presented. This method is based on the computation of the internal electric field and the measurements on a test network, which is similar to the structure of the steering control cabling. It allows the estimation of the potential threat for the ship's electronic equipment due to the exposal to UWB emitting sources