Monostatic RCS hot-spot modelling of large grooved structures

The monostatic radar cross section (RCS) hot-spot characteristics of electrically large grooved structures were analyzed. The structures´ monostatic RCS and inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) image properties at X-band were characterized for the far-field. These structures were assumed to have perfect electric conductor (PEC) properties. It is anticipated that the study of these simple structures, from a 2D analysis approach, could yield good insights into the RCS and ISAR characteristics of electrically large and complex tubular structures (e.g. intake cavities of jet engines) at microwave frequencies. In the modelling, computer aided design (CAD) models of these structures were created and meshed. They were then utilized as inputs into an RCS computer code called RAPPORT. Since this code was implemented using the ray-tracing technique based on physical optics (PO), it employs a parameter which allows the user to define the maximum number of “physical optics reflections” (PO reflections), also called specular reflections, off the meshed surfaces in a single ray traced. However, diffraction and polarization effects were not emphasized in this study due to limitations in RAPPORT.