Sungshin Cement Develops High-Performance Concrete with EMP Shielding

Eco-friendly Concrete Using Industrial By-products, Shielding Performance Exceeding Private Facility Protection Standards

Measuring the shielding effectiveness of EMP shielding concrete structures.
[Photo by Seongsin Cement]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] Concrete with protective functions capable of blocking electromagnetic pulses (EMP) has been developed by a domestic cement company.

Cement manufacturer Sungshin Cement announced on the 17th that it has succeeded in developing and producing prototypes of concrete that can block EMP by utilizing industrial by-products.

EMP shielding concrete is made by mixing slag aggregates containing metallic components such as iron or copper into ordinary cement to create special concrete with EMP shielding capabilities. EMP shielding concrete is an eco-friendly construction material that recycles industrial by-products, and when constructing shielding structures, no additional shielding facilities other than the concrete are required, enabling shorter construction periods and cost reduction.

While the shielding performance of conventional reinforced concrete is below 10~20 dB (unit of electromagnetic waves) and lacks EMP shielding functionality, the EMP shielding concrete developed by Sungshin Cement secured shielding performance of over 40 dB at a wall thickness of 100 mm, over 55 dB at 200 mm, and over 70 dB at 300 mm thickness.

National critical infrastructure and military facilities are equipped with EMP protection capabilities to prevent damage from various threats such as war or terrorism in emergencies. However, civilian facilities with protective capabilities are extremely limited. For shielding construction, additional shielding facilities must be installed inside concrete structures, which involves construction difficulties and increased costs.

Sungshin Cement expects that the newly developed EMP shielding concrete technology will be used not only in military facilities but also in civilian sectors. In particular, it can protect information and communication infrastructure such as national communication networks, broadcasting stations, railway control, power plants, financial networks, and large hospitals with many essential electronic devices for life support from various EMP attacks. The localization of EMP shielding technology led by the US and Europe is also expected to replace imported security technologies and have export effects.

Yoon Cheol-hyun, head of Sungshin Cement’s Technology Research Institute, said, "This is a highly effective technology that protects the safety of the people and the nation's assets. With the simplification of EMP shielding technology, a large demand is expected in the future," and analyzed, "There are about 600 information and communication infrastructure and military protection facilities that require EMP shielding technology, and based on individual structures, about 10,000 structures need EMP shielding functionality."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.