Conductive Concrete Structures for EMP Protection of Critical Infrastructure Facilities

This letter reports the experimental research and development of conductive concrete for building shielded structures. The concrete mixture contains proportions of conductive materials, such as carbon and metal fibers together with taconite aggregate consisting of magnetite concentration for the absorption of electromagnetic energy. By embedding wire mesh in the conductive concrete structures, broadband shielding effectiveness from 10 kHz to 1 GHz was achieved that exceeds the requirements per MIL-STD-188-125-1. A proof of concept concrete-metal shelter was implemented with the composite metal wall and roof panels attached to a conductive concrete subfloor to form a hybrid shielding structure. Test results demonstrate that hybrid conductive concrete structures can provide an alternative shielding solution that would meet the MIL-STD-188-125-1 requirements.