RADAR CROSS-SECTION OF TRIHEDRAL CORNER REFLECTORS USING PO AND MEC

Physical optics (PO) and the method of equivalent currents (MEC) are u sed for the formulation and calculation of the backscatter cross secti on of both the triangular and square trihedral corner reflectors. Scat tering from a trihedral corner reflector is dominated by single, doubl e, and triple reflections by the interior walls. A physical optics int egration is performed on the entire surface of each plate for the eval uation of the singly reflected fields. Doubly and triply reflected fie lds are evaluated by first using geometrical optics (GO) at initial re flections to calculate the incident plane wave on the plate where the last reflection occurs. Physical optics is then applied on the illumin ated area of that plate. First-order diffractions, which are based on the fringe current expressions for the exterior edges of the trihedral , are also included in the analysis. Predictions compare very well wit h both experimental and FDTD data.