Dual-Band Electromagnetic Shielding of Concrete Block Walls Using Concentric Double Square-Ring Frequency-Selective Surfaces near the n78 and n79 5G Frequency Regions

Featured Application: This study demonstrates a concrete-integrated dual-band frequency-selective shielding approach for selectively attenuating the main sub-6 GHz 5G n78 and n79 frequency regions in building walls without increasing wall thickness or altering conventional concrete block geometry. This paper presents a dual-band shielding approach in which two concentric square rings, fabricated on a single 0.2 mm copper sheet, are embedded in the mortar joint of prefabricated concrete blocks. The outer ring targets n78 (design center 3.5 GHz) and the inner ring targets n79 (design center 4.7 GHz). Both rings are dimensioned from the effective wavelength inside the concrete medium (εr = 5.0): the outer ring has an outer side of 9.93 mm and the inner ring an outer side of 7.43 mm, with a 180° gap offset between the two elements to suppress inter-ring coupling. CST Microwave Studio simulations predicted two shielding peaks of 37.2 dB at 3.48 GHz and 35.8 dB at 4.72 GHz, with −10 dB bandwidths of 580 MHz and 490 MHz, respectively. Computer numerical control (CNC)-milled copper panels cast into ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete blocks achieved measured peak SE of 34.9 dB (n78) and 33.4 dB (n79), with bandwidths of 510 MHz and 420 MHz. The 2.3–2.4 dB shortfall relative to simulation is attributed to coupling-gap drift during milling and spacer-induced surface voids. A permittivity sweep from εr = 4.5 to 6.0 showed that peak SE remains above 30 dB throughout.