A procedure and device for determining complex material permittivity using the free-space resonance method

The essential technologies of the complex permittivity of microwave dielectric materials are systematically designed, and the complex permittivity of materials is tested nondestructively by the free-space resonance method. A testing system was built by using a mobile surveying platform, and the complex dielectric constant of the material in the X band was nondestructively tested by using the algorithm of variable physical cavity length and constant physical cavity length. Focusing on the impact of variable physical cavity length on the test results, the cavity calibration technology is proposed to reduce the influence on the complex dielectric constant test of materials. The free-space resonance method was used to test the complex permittivity of polytetrafluoroethylene, glass steel plate (fiber reinforced plastics), and corundum plate. The results show that the test results of complex permittivity obtained by the two algorithms are consistent, and the error of complex permittivity is less than 5%.