Shielding Against EMI: Polymer Composite Solutions for Hyperloop Systems
ABSTRACT
As the world transitions to green energy methods, fast, sustainable methods of transportation are becoming increasingly needed to meet climate targets across the globe. Part of this can be realized through the creation of hyperloop systems, which rely on magnetic levitation and linear induction to reach high speeds, getting people from city to city faster than ever before.
The configuration of the hyperloop system utilizes both magnetic levitation and a linear induction motor to aid in propulsion of the pod, in a vacuum environment. These systems naturally emit electromagnetic frequencies that pose the risk of causing Electromagnetic Interference (EMI).
Some consequences to EMI include damaging or corrupting any exposed computers or circuitry which may lead to safety hazards, the loss of data, and even system failure. Due to these potential adverse effects, a specific material should be incorporated to shield against EMI. This designed shielding method is critical to the Hyperloop system as it protects the circuitry, motor, and all other essential components from the surrounding environment and preserves them lest a crash should occur.
Due to the development of a new pod each year, developing a shielding enclosure for the Pod to include the full chassis and aeroshell would be an expensive and time-consuming endeavour. Alternatively, developing a shielding casing that is manufactured using 3D printing for high priority components and protecting them with their specific dimensional requirements would reduce project costs. With these needs in mind, polymers are an ideal choice for an electromagnetic shielding material (EMS) as they are lightweight, cost effective, customizable, and can be 3D printed. This led to the selection of two polymer composites that were rigorously tested by means of shielding, tensile, impact, and flexural testing. The two polymer composites were Filament2Print and 3DKonductive.
From the mechanical and shielding testing, polymer composites were found to be an effective electromagnetic shielding material that was able to achieve a shielding effectiveness that is commercially acceptable. These results led to the team identifying a viable ESM that can be implemented in future iterations of the Hyperloop pod design as well as other areas of research and ideas for improvement.
Future improvements to this shielding design could be realized through additional testing, across varied thicknesses, and by using more carbon-based polymer composites. It would also be of benefit to continue work in conducting simulations such as finite element analysis through COMSOL to iterate the casing designs, improving structural rigidity and resistance to deformation under different force-interactions. It also would be recommended to set up simulation models using COMSOL to simulate the effect of the LIM behaviour on the casing, to validate and retrieve more results, potentially improving testing and analysis of the behaviours observed.