High-Frequency Bistatic Scattering by Depolarizing, Nearly Omnidirectional Reflectors: Higher Order Polyhedral Reflectors

Abstract

The bistatic scattering by perfectly conducting higher order polyhedral reflectors of large dimensions with respect to the wavelength, is studied. These particular faceted polyhedra, composed of several identical trihedral corner reflectors (TCR), are expected to exhibit a large RCS over a wide angular range with specific properties in terms of directivity and depolarization. Since numerical methods can not be applied to these complex structures (owing to the number of unknowns involved), an asymptotic method based on the physical optics combined with the geometrical optics approximations and the method of equivalent currents, recently developed for a single TCR, is used. The validity of the extended method is discussed and results for higher order (first-, second- and fourth-order) octahedral reflectors and icosahedral reflectors are also studied, in particular in terms of depolarization.