Electromagnetic Scattering from Metallic Disc: Numerical Analysis and Experimental Validation

Abstract

Canonically shaped bodies play a key role in theoretical and experimental analysis of scattering and propagation of electromagnetic fields. The disc is an important canonical target. Analytical solutions for the problem of electromagnetic scattering from a disc are known since the 1950`s. However these solutions assume an idealized physical model of the scatterer (infnitely thin, perfectly conducting) and are mathematically complicated. That is why a comparison with experimental results is particularly important in this case. This work focuses on experimental validation of a numerical approach for prediction of radar cross section (RCS) of an infnitely thin perfectly conducting disc. An extensive database of numerical and experimental results for discs with electrical size from 20 to 30 is created. Results for both monostatic and bistatic RCS are presented.