We present results from studies of the effectiveness of an overlap technique for forming a magnetic seal across a gap at the boundary between a cylindrical magnetic shield and an end-cap. In this technique a thin foil of magnetic material overlaps th
e two surfaces, thereby spanning the gap across the cylinder and the end-cap, with the magnetic seal then formed by clamping the thin magnetic foil to the surfaces of the cylindrical shield and the end-cap on both sides of the gap. In studies with a prototype 31-cm diameter, 91-cm long, 0.16-cm thick cylindrical magnetic shield and flared end-cap, the magnetic shielding performance of our overlap technique is comparable to that obtained with the conventional method in which the end-cap is placed in direct lapped contact with the cylindrical shield via through bolts or screws.
Metglas 2705M is a low-cost commercially-available, high-permeability Cobalt-based magnetic alloy, provided as a 5.08-cm wide and 20.3-$mu$m thick ribbon foil. We present an optimized construction technique for single-shell, large-scale (human-size),
thin, open-ended cylindrical Metglas magnetic shields. The measured DC axial and transverse magnetic shielding factors of our 0.61-m diameter and 1.83-m long shields in the Earths magnetic field were 267 and 1500, for material thicknesses of only 122 $mu$m (i.e., 6 foil layers). The axial shielding performance of our single-shell Metglas magnetic shields, obtained without the use of magnetic shaking techniques, is comparable to the performance of significantly thicker, multiple-shell, open-ended Metglas magnetic shields in comparable-magnitude, low-frequency applied external fields reported previously in the literature.
