On the Meaning of Enclosure Shielding Effectiveness

This paper presents some thoughts on the meaning of shielding effectiveness (SE) for a real enclosure. It is demonstrated that the conventional measurement of SE is a value specific to the particular measurement and is not necessarily representative of the enclosure in any practical situation, including a different measurement. The SE of an enclosure depends both on the enclosure contents, including the measurement antenna and the effective transmission cross section of the energy coupling mechanisms such as apertures, penetrations, seams and diffusion through walls.