Scale dependences of typical scattering mechanisms

doi:10.23919/JSEE.2025.000156

Abstract

Abstract:

The radar cross section (RCS) scale transformation of non-metallic targets is mainly limited by the frequency dispersion relationship of material, making it difficult to be implemented in actual measurements. If the scale dependences of scattering centers can be found to avoid the influence of frequency, it is expected to provide a new solution for the scale measurement of RCS of non-metallic targets. Therefore, based on the high-frequency asymptotic method, this paper first derives the scale dependences of the specular reflection mechanism and the edge diffraction mechanism for three common specular reflection structures and two edge diffraction structures. Then, referring to the expression of the frequency dependent factor in the geometric theory of diffraction (GTD) model, the scale dependent factors of the above scattering mechanisms are analogously proposed. The scale dependent factors are extended to thin-layer coated structures and arbitrary multiple scattering cases. Simulation experiments verified the correctness of the scale dependent factors. Finally, this paper presents an extended expression form of the GTD model, laying a theoretical foundation for the subsequent RCS scale transformation of non-metallic targets based on scattering centers.

Key words: radar cross section (RCS), geometric theory of diffraction (GTD), scattering center, scale model

Tianci Xiang, Hongcheng Yin, Hua Yan, Qi Huang. Scale dependences of typical scattering mechanisms[J]. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2026, 37(4): 1202-1211.

Figures/Tables 7

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Typical geometric body	RCS	$ {f^\alpha } $	$ {L^\beta } $
Plate	$ \sigma = \dfrac{{4\text{π} {S^2}}}{{{\lambda ^2}}} $	$ {f^1} $	$ {L^2} $
Cylinder	$ \sigma = \dfrac{{2\text{π} R{h^2}}}{\lambda } $	$ {f^{0.5}} $	$ {L^{1.5}} $
Sphere	$ \sigma = \text{π} {R^2} $	$ {f^0} $	$ {L^1} $
Straight wedge	$ \sigma = g\left( {\theta ,{\theta _{{{\mathrm{int}}} }}} \right){h^2} $	$ {f^0} $	$ {L^1} $
Curved wedge	$ \sigma = \dfrac{1}{2}g\left( {\theta ,{\theta _{{{\mathrm{int}}} }}} \right)R\lambda $	$ {f^{ - 0.5}} $	$ {L^{0.5}} $
Cone	$ \sigma = g\left( {{\beta _1},{\beta _2},\theta ,\varphi } \right){\lambda ^2} $	$ {f^{ - 1}} $	$ {L^0} $

Typical geometric body	Scale-dependent factor
Double-curved surface reflection	1
Single-curved surface reflection	1.5
Planar reflection	2
Curved edge diffraction	0.5
Straight edge diffraction	1
Arbitrary multiple scatterings	$\beta = {\alpha _c} + 1 + \displaystyle\sum\limits_{m = 1}^N {\dfrac{{{d_m} - 2}}{2}} $

Scattering mechanism	Scale-dependent factor			Discrepancy between experimental and theoretical data
Scattering mechanism	Theoretical	PEC	Thin-layer coated	PEC/%	Thin-layer coated/%
Double-curved surface reflection	1	1.0043	1.0082	0.43	0.82
Single-curved surface reflection	1.5	1.4911	1.5030	0.59	0.20
Planar scattering	2	1.9991	1.9984	0.05	0.16
Curved-edge diffraction	0.5	0.4698	0.4673	6.04	6.54
Straight-edge diffraction	1	0.9961	0.9951	0.39	0.49

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