Scattering from a cylindrical resistive sheet using a modified physical optics current

Applicability of a modified resistive physical optics (PO) current expression to electrically large cylindrical structures is validated by analytical and numerical computations and measurement. It is shown that the radar cross-section (RCS) computed using an exact series representation and the modified PO current approximation matches well in the backscatter direction, and the forward scatter RCSs differ in magnitude by a couple of decibels for a closed resistive sheet. The PO current is compared with the series solution to explain the discrepancy of the forward scatter RCS. It is also shown that an open resistive sheet segment shows excellent agreement with the PO result in both the forward and backscatter directions. Lastly, a simple modified PO shadow-zone current is given for penetrable cylindrical sheets.