Radar Scattering from Foamed Plastic Target Supports

摘要

This study investigates the scattering from foamed ranges to support all sizes oftargets for radar cross section measurements. Two common foamed plastics, styrofoam and expanded bead polystyrene (EPS), are discussed. Two types of scattering are associated with foamed plastic, coherent and incoherent. The incoherent is normally the lowest, but has not been satisfactorily quantified. Coherent scattering is related to the shape of the target, and the emphasis of this study is on the coherent return. One goal was to predict the coherent RCS of an EPS column using the Uniform Theory of Diffraction (UTD). It was found that UTD can accurately predict the backscatter of an EPS column consisting of flat and curved surfaces. The second goal was to experimentally study the effects of shaping on coherent RCS. The benefits of adding a vertical slope to circular cylindrical columns was studied. RCS reductions of approximately 20 dB were achieved. Some low RCS column shapes were also measured; sloping did not produce a measurable RCS reduction in these cases.