A Simple and Efficient SBR Implementation for RCS Calculation Using Target Scaling

Abstract

In order to alleviate the computational burden of the shooting and bouncing rays (SBRs) method in the radar cross section (RCS) analysis, an algorithm using target scaling is introduced in this article. This algorithm aims to reduce the number of rays that must be traced with time-consuming ray–triangle intersection tests. In order to achieve this, the target’s electrical length is reduced to a predefined value in each aspect angle. Then, only rays that hit the scaled target is traced without changing the analysis frequency. The RCS values for full-scaled model are estimated by using the ray displacements and field strengths calculated for the scaled model. This algorithm yields a significant decrease in the computational burden with a trade-off between analysis accuracy and time consumption. Analysis results show that the introduced algorithm and original SBR give very similar RCS results except at very low RCS points as depicted in the RCS versus aspect angle graphs. In addition, using a fixed frequency makes the algorithm applicable to not only perfectly electrical conducting (PEC) targets, but also targets coated with radar absorbing materials (RAMs).