Electromagnetic interference shielding by the cold spray particle deposition of an aluminium - Alumina matrix

The shielding effectiveness required for military communications/control enclosures is typically 60dB. The walls of many of these enclosures are of aluminum panels, joined to other aluminum panels by means of adhesives. The seams at these panel joints are a major source of EM leakage. These seams cannot be sealed through bridging by solder or braze because the required application temperature would degrade the epoxy adhesive. This work shows how a new, low-temperature, metal deposition method, known as cold spray, can be used to quickly produce conductive metal coatings that strongly adhere to the aluminum.