The RCS of Conductive, Sperhical Shells with Small Thickness to Skin Depth Ratio

摘要

An experimental study has been carried out to investigate the radar cross section of extremely thin, conductive, spherical shells. In particular, shell thicknesses are considered which are less than the electrical skin depth of the shell material. Attention is focused on the confirmation of an earlier theoretical analysis. The tests were conducted at first resonance with X-band radar, using coated plastic balls as simulated shells. These results verify completely the prediction that the cross section can be equivalent to the return of a solid, metal sphere. They also agree remarkably well with the analytical correlation and indicate the shell, for practical purposes, does not have to be nearly as ideal as assumed in the theory. (Author)