A Simple Approximation of the Maliuzhinets Function for Describing Wedge Diffraction

Abstract

Maliuzhinets’ function plays a key role in the theory of diffraction by wedges with isotropic imperfectly reflecting, e.g. absorbing or coated with a thin layer of dielectric material, faces. Nearly all available exact solutions for non-metallic wedges are expressed through this function. The paper proposes a new approximation of the Maliuzhinets function by using a single cosine function. This is the simplest approximation available in the literature, which permits representing fields scattered by non-metallic wedges in terms of elementary functions only. The accuracy of the approximation, as applied to the case of an impedance wedge under normal illumination, is estimated both analytically and numerically.