IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 42, NO. I I .

NOVEMBER 1994

1491

RCS Characterization of a Finite Ground Plane with

Perforated Apertures: Simulations and Measurements
Kathleen L. Virga, Student Member, IEEE, and Yaliya Rahmat-Samii, Fellow, IEEE

Abstract- The monostatic radar cross section of a finitesize perfectly conducting flat plate with perforated apertures is
investigated by simulations and measurements.The geometry of a
finite ground plane with triangular apertures resembles airplane
and automobile windows. The method of moments surface patch
formulation is used to compute the radar cross section of a solid
plate, a plate with two widely spaced apertures, and a plate with
two closely spaced apertures. The characteristics of the triangular
patch mesh can impact the accuracy of the computed results with
this formulation. This paper presents a methodology to achieve
high quality meshes to ensure that the time and convenience
gained by developing the general method of moments code is
not lost in mesh construction and convergence tests. The results
obtained using the method of moments are compared with results
obtained by measurements and physical optics. It is shown that
the method of moments simulations and measurements are in
good agreement. The key features of the influence of the aperture
separation on the RCS patterns are discussed.

I. INTRODUCTION

HE RCS CHARACTERIZATION of perforated apertures

in a finite-size ground plane is an important electromagnetic scattering problem. One configuration consists of a finite
ground plane with two triangular apertures, which resembles
the geometry of airplane and automobile windows. The size,
shape, and location of the apertures can significantly affect the
scattering signature of an object. It is essential to understand
how the different geometry factors influence the scattering
characteristics of the plates. Fig. 1 shows some sample plate
configurations to be considered. Fig. l(a> is a solid plate,
Fig. 1 (b) is a plate with two widely spaced triangular apertures,
and Fig. l(c) is a plate with two closely spaced triangular
apertures.
Some commonly used techniques to calculate the scattering
characteristics of such geometries are the method of moments
(MOM) [ I]-[3], the geometrical theory of diffraction (GTD)
[4], [5], and the physical theory of diffraction (PTDj 161. The
method of moments has significant advantages over the other
two methods when applied to small finite-size plates with
irregular shaped and closely spaced apertures.
Manuscript received December 3, 1993; revised May 9, 1994.
K. L. Virga is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, University
of Califomia, Los Angeles, CA 90024 and the Electromagnetic Systems
Laboratory, Hughes Aircraft Company-HAEC, Los Angeles, CA 90009-2426
USA.
Y. Rahmat-Samii is with the Department of Electrical Engineering University of Califomia, Los Angeles, CA, 90024- I594 USA.
IEEE Log Number 9406389.

The method of moments models all of the interactions due

to specific parts of the scatterer. It takes into account the
coupling between the apertures and the appropriate behavior
of the currents near all of the plate and aperture edges. The
MOM formulation used in this paper employs the triangular
surface patch model, where the plate is described by a mesh
of many sufficiently small flat triangular elements (see Fig. 1j.
This model is an effective way to compute the scattering from
the plate and aperture geometry because it allows flexibility
in defining irregular shaped apertures.
For rectangular shaped plates GTD is quite effective at
angles close to normal, but breaks down as glancing incidence
is approached 141. Because of the complexity of determining
which edge locations contribute to diffraction in a particular back scattered direction, it is difficult to apply GTD
to plates with irregular shaped apertures. When applied to
closely spaced apertures, the interaction effects between the
apertures are difficult to take into account. The inclusion of
multiple diffracted rays between the apertures improves the
estimate. but the addition of each higher order term becomes
increasingly more difficult to implement.
PTD is complicated to apply to plates with irregular shaped
apertures because of the mathematical intricacy in integrating
the edge: currents. It is difficult to compute the equivalent
edge currents in the comer regions of apertures with irregular
comers. Since the edge currents for each edge are computed
independently of the location of any nearby edges using this
method, it does not include the coupling and interaction effects. The influence of the close spacing between the apertures
on the back scattered results is difficult to characterize with
PTD.
Numerous investigators have examined the EM scattering
characteristics from finite-size solid plates of many different
shapes, but some difficulties in computing their RCS remain.
Monostatic scattering from solid square and circular flat plates
is treated thoroughly in [7]-[9], for triangular plates in [8], and
for irregular-edged planar and curved surfaces in [IO], [ I l l .
Scattering from rhombus-shaped plates is discussed in [ 121.
A physical optics formulation for scattering for polygonal flat
plates is reviewed in 191.
Electromagnetic coupling through apertures in conducting
screens of infinite size has been a subject of extensive electromagnetic research for many years. Many specific applications
have been investigated in the literature [13], [14]. A comprehensive list of references dated up to 1977 can be found in
[14]. The configurations treated in 1131, [ 141 involve infinite

0018-926X/94$04.00 0 1994 IEEE

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 42, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 1994

tY

(a)

31

(b)

(C)

Fig. 1. Finite plates with perforated apertures: (a) solid 3X square plate, (b) 3X square plate with two widely spaced triangular apertures, (c) 3X square
plate with two closely spaced triangular apertures.

or closed screens with various aperture configurations and

medium characteristics. Recently the scattering from apertures
has been addressed [15]-[ 171. Closed form expressions for
the back scattered fields from small circular holes are given
in [15]. The equivalent currents in single apertures in large
finite screens are computed by combining the method of
moments and conjugate gradient method in [ 161. A general 3D aperture coupling problem is formulated using the method of
moments and the equivalent magnetic current to solve for the
scattering for arbitrary apertures in conducting bodies in [ 171.
None of the aforementioned references address the problem
of scattering from multiple perforated apertures in finite-size
ground planes.
This paper characterizes the RCS results for a solid finitesize ground plane, a finite ground plane with two widely
spaced triangular apertures, and a finite ground plane with two
closely spaced triangular apertures. The solid plate is a wellstudied problem and is used to establish a reference while the
other two cases are used to understand the effects that the
aperture separation has on the results. The results presented
here may be used as a benchmark to be compared with results
obtained by advanced formulations of GTD and PTD that take
into account aperture edge interaction effects.
In the next section, simulation models based upon the
method of moments surface patch formulation are described.

Section 111 discusses some important factors to consider when

developing the surface patch geometry models. The effects of
the specific mesh characteristics and overall mesh quality on
the RCS results will be addressed. This section shows how one
can effectively and accurately develop surface patch models by
careful mesh design. A brief summary of the physical optics
formulation is discussed in Section IV. Section V describes
how some plates were fabricated and the experimental monostatic RCS data of the plates was collected. Comparisons of
the RCS results for the plates from both measurements and
simulations are given in Section VI. The influence of the
aperture separation on the RCS patterns is discussed. Section
VI1 contains conclusions.
11. METHODOF MOMENTSFORMULATION
FOR PERFORATED R A T PLATES

General-purpose computer codes that can handle flat plate

scattering problems for a wide variety of geometries are useful
and in many cases desirable. Some numerical approaches
and numerical codes designated mainly for scattering from
conducting bodies of arbitrary shape have been developed and
serve this purpose [ 181-[20]. The approach developed by Rao,
Wilton, and Glisson [ 181 approximates an arbitrarily shaped
surface by planar triangular patches. The electric field integral
equation (EFIE) is used in conjunction with the method of

VIRGA AND RAHMAT-SAMII: RCS CHARACTERIZATION OF A FINITE GROUND PLANE

1493

the EFIE, given as

= [ j w i ( ~ ) VQ(F)]

tan

?on

(3)

and taking the inner product of both sides of the resultant

equation with a testing function. The testing function in this
formulation has the same form as the basis function. The
system of equations may be written as
Fig. 2. Basis function triangle pair and parameters associated with an interior
edge.

moments to compute the induced currents on the plate. The

currents, in turn, are used to compute the scattered field.
The triangular surface patch model has several advantages:
the patches are capable of accurately conforming to many
plate geometries, the triangular patch mesh is easily described
on the computer, and a varying patch density can be used
according to the resolution required in the surface geometry or
current. The user must provide as input to the program detailed
mesh connectivity information that describes the surface. Mesh
construction issues and the important mesh characteristics will
be described.
The triangular surface patch model uses a vector basis
function that is suitable for representing the currents induced
on the plate. Each basis function (and testing function) is
associated with an interior mesh edge. Each interior (nonboundary) edge has a length I , and is supported by two
triangular patches (or faces) T,' and T; . A sample triangular
pair along with the geometrical parameters used to define the
basis and testing functions are shown in Fig. 2. The vector
basis function for the nth interior edge is given by

[ZII = v

(4)

where [Z] is the generalized impedance matrix, I is the column

matrix of basis function coefficients, and V is the generalized
voltage column matrix.
The matrix row equation is enforced for each match edge
(each interior edge, m = 1, 2, . . . , N ) and may be written as:

where the magnetic vector potential and scalar potential are

defined as,

and

where S is the surface defined by the triangle patches that

support the nth source edge and p and E are the permeability
and permittivity of free space. In (5)-(7), the f superscript
refers to the trian ular patches that support the mth match
l?
edge. The term F & denotes the location of the centroid in the
t 0.
otherwise
is the vector that connects
respective f triangular patch,
in the f patch, and O/,.
defines the
where I , is the length of the nth interior edge, A; is the area the free vertex and
of the respective T,' triangular patch, p':(F) is the vector surface divergence.
The integrals that arise from applying the method of mobetween the free vertex (opposite the nth edge) and some
location F in the f triangular patch. The "+" sign is used to ments are evaluated using several numerical approximations
denote the current reference direction in the T,' triangle, from that reduce the time required to fill the impedance and voltage
the free vertex toward the nth edge. The "-"sign is used to matrices. The integrals in (6) and (7) are obtained by approxidenote the current reference direction in the T,- triangle, from mating the surface integrals over the triangles that support the
match edge by their values at the respective triangle centroids
the nth edge toward the free vertex.
The properties of this basis function are described in [18]. F< and 72.This is equivalent to a one-point approximation
The current on the surface of a perfectly conducting scatterer, of the surface integrals. The one-point approximation is also
used in constructing (5). This approximation works best if the
S, may be approximated by
potentials are locally smooth within each triangle and if the
triangular patches are nearly equilateral.
Details describing efficient numerical evaluation of the
matrix elements and the numerical implementation of the
where the In's are the unknown basis function coefficients method are discussed in [18]. The solution for the induced
and N is the number of interior edges. To determine the basis current using the EFIE automatically takes into account the
function coefficients, a system of N x N equations must be exact surface current behavior near all of the plate and aperture
obtained. These equations are obtained by substituting (2) into boundary edges.

7'2

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 42, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 1994

1494

TABLE I
TARGET
MESHCHARACTERISTICS

WEDGE-CYLINDER PLATE

m a . face area
min. face area
maximum face
minimum face

0.076
0.786

0.999
0.379
0.847

66.96
93.15
99.1 1

89.94
98.78
100

0.998
0.179
0.844
~~~

# faces with Q > .75

# faces with Q> .50
## faces with Q> .25

111. SURFACEPATCHGEOMETRY
MODELING:
MESHQUALITYFACTOR
One big advantage of the Rao, Wilton, and Glisson method
of moments formulation is that it allows us to develop one
method of moments code to solve for the currents (and
scattered field) for a large number of geometries. The user
must provide as input to the program detailed triangular patch
connectivity information that defines a triangular mesh to
approximate the conductor surface.
It is convenient to use a geometry processing package to
develop meshes to model complex geometries. Some of the
numerical codes to compute the scattering from conducting
surfaces of arbitrary shape incorporate geometry input and
processing routines [20], [21]. A program that converts the
surface modeling output from the CAD/CAM program PATRAN to a triangular mesh input has been developed [22].
Sophisticated algorithms used in the finite element method
automatically triangulate surfaces [23]-[27].
No matter which triangular mesh generation method is used,
several guidelines should be followed in order to develop
an effective surface patch model. It is the geometrical and
numerical approximations, discussed in the previous section,
that necessitate these guidelines. These guidelines ensure that
the time and convenience advantage gained by developing
the general method of moments code is not lost in mesh
construction and convergence tests.

86.21
97.87
99.47

Only a few references discuss how the mesh influences the

RCS results. One should use the fewest unknowns possible.
The number of unknowns sets the size of the impedance matrix, which governs the amount of processing time and memory
necessary to fill and invert the matrix. Both 1191, [203 advise to
use X/5 to X/10 long edges and nearly equilateral triangles to
improve program convergence. These users guides; however,
do not give any specific guidelines relating the accuracy of the
solution to the shape of the triangles. In general, there should
be more triangular elements where there are local variations
in the surface geometry and the surface current density.
For unique geometries it may be difficult to develop meshes
that meet all of these guidelines. Automatic triangulation
routines work to optimize the overall shape of the triangle
faces at the cost of many unknowns. In many cases, it is
acceptable to have a few long and thin triangles in order to
reduce the overall number of unknowns. Plots of the output
mesh are useful for determining places where the triangulation
should be improved.
A mesh characteristics summary chart was developed, to
evaluate the overall quality of a mesh. Table I shows some
example charts. The chart lists the number of unknowns, and
some statistical information about the edge lengths and the
triangle face shape quality ( Q ) factors. This information can
be used to compare the characteristics of different meshes to
describe the same target. It provides a quantitative description

1495

VIRGA AND RAHMAT-SAMII: RCS CHARACTERIZATION OF A FINITE GROUND PLANE

Q=l.OO

Qd.90

Qd.60

Qd.50

Qd.75

a
&
Qa.25

Q=O.15

Qd.05

Fig. 3. Some representative mesh triangles and their face shape quality
factors.

of the overall mesh and helps one to develop high quality

meshes with a reasonable number of unknowns. An ideal
mesh would have all the listed edge length and face Q factor
percentages equal 100.
The shape quality factor of a triangular patch is defined as
[281
"diameter" of inscribing circle
(8)
= "radius of circumscribing circle" '
With this definition, Q equals to 1 corresponds to an equilateral
triangle and Q equals to 0 corresponds to a co-linear set of
points. All Q factors are between 0 and 1 and describe triangles
ranging from a straight line to equilateral. Fig. 3 shows some
representative mesh triangles and their quality factors.
The effects of the mesh characteristics on RCS results were
investigated using the Electro-Magnetic Code Consortium
(EMCC) wedge-cylinder Hat plate validation data. A detailed
explanation of the geometries and measured RCS results for
the EMCC flat plate validation targets are given in [29]. The
EMCC data serves as a reference to compare the RCS results
computed from three different wedge-cylinder plate meshes.
The three meshes, labeled Mesh A, Mesh B, and Mesh C, are
made up of 970, 944, and 1924 interior edges (or unknowns),
respectively. Plots of these meshes are shown in Fig. 4 and
the mesh characteristics are summarized in Table I. Mesh C is
a dense mesh that is considered converged since it obeys all
of the general guidelines.
Fig. 5 compares the monostatic RCS patterns for HH ($,
4) and VV (e, 0) polarization. The RCS in dB X2 is plotted
against the azimuth angle (phi) in a conical cut that is 10"
above the plane of the plate. The pattern is computed from
0" to 180", where 0" corresponds to the direction which is
incident to the wedge tip and 180" corresponds to the direction
which is incident to the semicircular end. These plots include
pattems computed from all three meshes as well as some of
the measured validation data in [29].
The Mesh A patterns are noticeably different from both
the Mesh B and Mesh C patterns. The results computed from
Mesh B and Mesh C nearly overlay with each other and the

(C)

Fig. 4. Wedge cylinder flat plate meshes for comparison with EMCC validation data. (a) 970 unknowns, (b) 944 unknowns, (c) 1924 unknowns.

measured validation data. Even though Mesh A has 26 more

edges than Mesh B, Mesh B yields results that more closely
match the results obtained with Mesh C . The edges and faces
in Mesh A and B are comparable in size. The major difference
between these two meshes is their overall face shape quality.
Mesh B has better face shape quality and less than half the
number of unknowns as Mesh C. These results indicate that
one can effectively and accurately approximate the target in a
reasonable number of unknowns by careful mesh design.
All of the meshes discussed in this paper were created using
a mesh code based upon the grid program discussed in [27].
The process of triangulating an arbitrary flat plate geometry
begins by dividing the surface into a contiguous group of
quadrilateral-shaped regions. Each region is then subdivided
into triangles based upon the specific shape of the region and
the prescribed triangle density within the region. This process
gives the user great flexibility in controlling the mesh in each
region, although it requires a great deal of knowledge and

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 42,NO. 11, NOVEMBER 1994

I496

51

since it was desired to characterize and compare the method

of moments RCS results for perforated plates with similarly
structured meshes.

IV. PHYSICAL
OPTICSFORMULATION
FOR PERFORATED R A T RATES

-35

-3.5

20

40

60

100 120
Azimuth Angle. @hi)

-.- - MeshA
B
-Mesh
MeshC

80

140

160

180

140

160

I
180

vv POI.

. .

20

40

60

120
Azimuth Angle (phi)
80

100

Fig. 5. Monostatic RCS (in dB X 2 ) mesh comparison results for the three
wedge-cylinder plate meshes. The plots are displayed as conical cuts at an
elevation of IOo off the plane of the plate.

patience to create an acceptable mesh, especially for complex

structures.
The mesh characteristics summary chart is an effective
guide that helps one develop complex high quality meshes
with this triangulation process. The chart statistics are used
to establish how to best divide the regions and specify the
triangle density. The meshes used for the MOMsimulations for
the plates with perforated apertures are shown in Fig. 1. The
solid plate was divided into four regions and the perforated
plates were each divided into 11 regions. The meshes were
designed by specifying the triangle density in the regions to
obtain the highest quality factor. Special attention was given to
avoid long, thin mesh triangles around the triangular perforated
apertures.
The final meshes have the following characteristics. The
solid plate mesh has 936 unknowns, 0.188X average edge
length, and 0.828 average face shape Q factor. The mesh
for the plate with 0.9X spaced apertures has 1848 unknowns,
0.129X average edge length, and 0.834 average face Q factor.
The mesh for the plate with 0.1X spaced apertures has 1711
unknowns, 0.136X average edge length, and 0.783 average
face Q factor. The quality of the mesh for the plate with 0.1X
spaced apertures is rather low. It may be improved by dividing
the plate into more regions. This mesh was used; however,

The simplest approximation to illustrate the angular dependence of the scattered fields is the physical optics solution.
For many geometries, the fields due to PO induced surface
currents can be integrated in closed form. Hence, the back
scattered cross section for these plate geometries can be readily
evaluated. For rectangular plates that are large compared to
wavelength, the approximation is good at predicting the RCS
returns 20 to 30 on either side of normal incidence.
To compute the physical optics scattered far field of a
rectangular plate with apertures, two computation steps are
used. First, the scattered field due to the currents induced on
the entire flat solid rectangular plate are calculated analytically
in closed form. Then the far field due to the currents in the
regions defined by the apertures is numerically computed.
A 21-point Gaussian quadrature integration over each region
defined by the triangular apertures is used to compute the
field due to the PO currents induced in these regions. The
resultant scattered field is determined by subtracting the far
field contribution from the region of the plate that is defined
by the apertures from the far field computed for the solid plate.
The far field contribution from the currents in the triangular
aperture regions may also be computed analytically in closed
form as described in [30], [31]. The PO currents everywhere on
the plate and in the aperture regions have constant amplitude
and uniform progressive phase. The two-dimensional Fourier
transform of these currents over a planar region bounded by
an N-sided polygon can be evaluated in closed-form. The
triangular boundaries of the aperture perforations are a special
case of general polygons.
This paper focuses on monostatic RCS characteristics because of the availability of the monostatic RCS measured
data for comparing with the method of moments and physical
optics simulations. The following formulation is specific to
monostatic retums; however, equations for bistatic retums are
easily obtainable.
Consider a plane wave incident on a rectangular flat plate
that is A wavelengths wide and B wavelengths long with
several perforated apertures. The plate lies in the x-y plane,
as shown in Fig. 1. The back scattered RCS is denoted as
UHH (or 044) and ovr: (or u ~ ~
H )polarization
.
represents 4polarization and V polarization represents &polarization. The
back scattered RCS component gee, is determined from the EO
component of both the incident and back scattered fields, while
044 is determined from the E+ component of the fields. The
monostatic RCS predicted by physical optics for an incident
plane wave that is either completely 4 or 0 polarized with unit
amplitude is given by:

(9)

VIRGA AND RAHMAT-SAMII: RCS CHARACTERIZATION OF A FINITE GROUND PLANE

1497

and
27rA

X = -sinHcosd

27r B
Y = -sin 19sin (b
X

and

where s is the surface region defined by the apertures. Since

this formulation predicts the monostatic RCS, the factor 2
appears in the exponential term of the integral. The monostatic
RCS at normal incidence can easily be determined from (9)
and is given by

(e=,.) = 10 log,,

47r

( A B - totd aperture a r m ) *
X2

(10)
Equation (9) indicates the component RCS, 000, of a plate
computed by PO for an incident plane wave that is completely
0 polarized is identical to the component RCS, a d d . , for a
completely 4 polarized plane wave incident on the plate from
the same direction.

V. PEFORATED
FLATPLATE
MEASUREMENTS
Monostatic RCS experimental data was collected at the
Hughes Aircraft Company Antenna and RCS Measurement
Compact Range [32]. The radar consists of a HP-8510B
controlled by a DEC micro VAX I1 running the measurement
software. The purpose of these experiments was to compare
the measured results with the simulated results computed by
the method of moments and physical optics.
The plates were constructed by carefully cutting conductive
sheets of 30 mil thick copper tape. The measurements were
taken at 5.91 GHz. The square plate outer dimensions are 6
inches (3X) per side. The rest of the plate dimensions are
scaled according to Fig. 1. Each plate was cut from a single
solid 6-in square sheet to eliminate undesired overlap ridges
on the plate. The plates were attached to a 6-in square piece
of low density foam with beveled edges. The foam edges were
beveled to reduce back scattering from the side edges of the
foam at large angles of incidence.
The plate/foam test articles were mounted on a large Styrofoam rotator column in the range. Fig. 6 is a photograph of a
plate mounted in the range. The baseline RCS of the Styrofoam
column at 5.91 GHz is -45 dBsm. The column contributes a
f0.1 dB error for -5 dBsm pattern levels and f l . O dB error
for -25 dBsm pattern levels.
VI. MEASUREMENTS
AND SIMULATIONS:
COMPARISON OF RESULTS

In this section the monostatic RCS results from the method

of moments simulations are compared to measurements and
the results computed by PO. Principal plane patterns were

Fig. 6. Photograph of perforated flat plate mounted in Hughes Aircraft

Company's Antenna and RCS Measurement Compact Range.

taken for -90" < H < 90" for 4 = 270" and (h = 0", for
the plates oriented as shown in Fig. 1.
The RCS results, plotted as CTHH (which is the same as
a,@) and 0171- (which is the same as O H H ) . are shown in
Figs. 7 through 11. The solid plate is a well-studied problem
and is used to establish a reference while the other two cases
are used to understand how the aperture separation influences
the results. There is generally good agreement between the
measured and MOM predicted patterns in all of the case
The results for the solid 3X square plate are shown in F
The results indicate that the measured and MOM patterns
nearly match. The PO, MOM, and measured results in this
figure for the most part agree for -3O"< H < 30". For these
solid plate cases, the peak of the physical optics pattern at
normal incidence is 0.30 dB higher than the peak of the
measured and MOM patterns. This discrepancy may be due
to the fact that the PO approximation works best for large
plates. For small plates one expects some difference between
the PO predicted and measured peaks.
The results for the perforated plates for 4 = 270" are shown
in Figs. 8 (HH polarization) and 9 (VV polarization). In this
plane, the measured and MOM patterns are asymmetric around
B = 0". This asymmetry is much more apparent in the 0.lX
aperture separation patterns. The VV pol. patterns for both
aperture spacings have similar characteristics; however, the

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35
30

25

-Measured

fl

HH Pol.

20

35

---MOM

30

--PO

25

$ 2 0

--PO

*g

15

10

10

B 5

8Di

*j
i3
C

-Measured
-.- MOM

i\

HH Pol.

1s

-5

-10

-100 -80

-60

-40

-20

20

40

60

80

100
Theta (degrees) Phi-270 degrees

Theta (degrees) Phi=270 degrees

(a)

(a)

35

-Measured

vv Pol.

MOM

U)

30 -

HH Pol.

25-

-10

-100 -80

-60

-40 -20
0
20
40
60
Theta (degrees) Phi=270 degrees

80

100

'

'

-100 -80

-Measured

*'
-60

MOM

I
-

--PO

40

-20

20

40

60

80

100

Theta (degrees) Phi=270 degrees

(b)

(b)

Fig. 7. Monostatic RCS (in dB A') from measurements, method of moments,

and physical optics for 3X square solid flat plate. (a) HH pol., (b) VV pol.

Fig. 8. Monostatic RCS (in dB A*) from measurements, method of moments,

and physical optics for 3X square plate with two perforated apertures for HH
pol. for 4 = 270'. (a) 0.9X aperture spacing, (b) 0.lX aperture spacing.

absolute levels are different. In all but a few locations, the

The 4 = 0" results are shown in Figs. 10 (HH polarization)
measured and MOM patterns nearly overlay. The results near and 11 (VV polarization.) The measured and MOM results
30" for both VV pol. patterns have similar characteristics. nearly overlay. All of these patterns are symmetric, since the
While the measured and MOM results show a sidelobe peak, plate geometry in this plane is symmetric. The influence of
physical optics predicts a null.
the aperture separation on the pattern characteristics is most
Physical optics predicts exactly the same pattern for both apparent between 10" and 50' around the main beam.
polarizations for 4 = 270, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9 and
For 4 = 0" the peak of the PO pattern is 0.30 dB above
described in Section IV. The PO pattern is also independent the peak of the measured and MOM HH patterns. In the VV
of aperture spacing when 4 = 270" for this aperture orien- patterns, the PO peak matches the measured peak for the 0.9A
tation. This may be shown analytically by observing that the aperture spacing plate but is 0.60 dB higher than the measured
integration over the triangular apertures in (9) is independent peak for the 0.1A aperture spacing plate. Similar behavior
of aperture spacing when the apertures are spaced along the x- was observed in the I$ = 270' pattems, but for the opposite
axis for 4 = 270". For both VV pol. cases in Fig. 9, the peak polarizations. The 4 = 0" PO results in Figs. 10 and 11 predict
of the PO pattern is 0.23 dB above the peak of the measured exactly the same pattern for both polarizations. In this plane;
and MOM patterns. The HH pol. results in Fig. 8 show that however, the PO patterns depend upon the aperture spacing.
the PO peak matches the measured peak for the 0.9A aperture
The influence of the aperture spacing is more significant in
spacing plate but is 0.60 dB higher than the measured peak for the 4 = 0" patterns than the 4 = 270" patterns. One observes
the 0.1A aperture spacing plate. This large difference is due the greatest changes in the pattern characteristics for the 4 =
to the fact that physical optics does not take into account the 0" cuts as the aperture spacing changes. The aperture spacing
primarily controls the height of the inner most sidelobes.
coupling between the apertures.

VIRGA AND RAHMAT-SAMII: RCS CHARACTERIZATION OF A FINITE GROUND PLANE

35

30 -

1499

-Measured

w Pol.

/)

---MOM

---MOM

- -PO

-100 -80

-60 -40

-20

20

40

60

80

100

20

-100

-80

-60 4 0

Theta (degrees) Phi=270 degrees

(a)

20

40

60

80

100

(a)

-Measured

w Pol.

-20

Theta (degrees) Phi=O degrees

-Measured

35

30 -

HH Pol.

MOM

25

20

**

15

8rrl

10

0
-5
-in
-_

-100

-80

-20
0
20
40
60
Theta (degrees) Phi=27O degrees

-60 4 0

80

100

-100 -80

-60 4 0

-20

20

40

60

80

100

Theta (degrees) Phi=O degrees

(b)

(b)

Fig. 9. Monostatic RCS (in dB A * ) from measurements, method of moments,

and physical optics for 3X square plate with two perforated apertures for VV
pol. for 0 = 270'. (a) 0.9X aperture spacing, (b) 0.1X aperture spacing.

Fig. 10. Monostatic RCS (in dB A') from measurements, method of moments, and physical optics for 3X square plate with two perforated apertures
for HH pol. for 4 = 0'. (a) 0.9X aperture spacing, (b) 0.1X aperture spacing.

VII. CONCLUSIONS
The RCS of a finite-size ground plane with perforated
triangular apertures has been characterized. The results of the
monostatic RCS computed by the method of moments surface
patch formulation for a plane wave incident on finite size plates
with two widely spaced and two closely spaced apertures have
been presented. The method of moments results are compared
with measured and physical optics results. The monostatic
RCS characteristics of such geometries have not been widely
presented in the literature.
These results show the influence of the aperture separation
on the RCS returns. The method of moments computed
pattems agree with the measured pattems. Physical Optics
predicts the exact same monostatic component RCS (000 and
a+$)on a plate when the incident wave is either completely
0 or 4 polarized. The method of moments and measured
results show that the RCS characteristics are a function of the
incident wave polarization. The physical optics pattems are
independent of aperture spacing for the aperture orientation in

Fig. 1 when q5 = 270". The method of moments and measured

4 = 270" patterns show RCS characteristics that depend upon
the aperture separation.
The effects of the mesh in the use of the method of moments
surface patch formulation have been discussed. Several guidelines and a design procedure to follow in order to develop high
quality meshes have been given. These guidelines stem from
the numerical integration approximations used to reduce the
fill time of the generalized impedance and voltage matrices.
An example comparing the accuracy of the RCS results of
a flat plate target from meshes with different mesh quality
factors has been presented. The results indicate that one can
effectively and accurately approximate a flat plate target by a
triangular surface patch mesh by careful mesh design.
Results similar to the results shown here have been obtained
for other aperture geometries. Due to paper length limitations,
the results for only one aperture geometry are presented
in detail. The triangular aperture cases have been discussed
in detail because of the non-symmetric aperture shape. The

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 42, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 1994

1500

35

30-

-Measured

w Pol.

-.-

MOM

25-

I\

-100 -80 -60

-40

-20

20

40

60

80

100

Theta (degrees) Phi=O degrees

(a)

30 -

vv Pol.

25-

-100

-Measured

-80 -60 -40 -20

-.-

MOM

--PO

20

40

60

80

100

Theta (degrees) Phi=O degrees

(b)

Fig. 11. Monostatic RCS (in dB A*) from measurements, method of moments, and physical optics for 3X square plate with two perforated apertures
for VV pol. for d = 0. (a) 0.9X aperture spacing, (b) 0.1X aperture spacing.

results presented here may be used as a benchmark with which

to compare results obtained by other electromagnetic analysis
techniques, including formulations of GTD and FTD, that take
into account aperture edge interaction effects.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors thank Will McKinzie for the mesh grid program. The authors also thank Cal B o e r for his support
and Gregg Tanakaya, and Mike Yonezaki of Hughes Aircraft
Company for his support and performing the measurements.
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Kathleen L. Virga (S85-M87-S91) received the

B S E E degree from California State University,
Long Beach in 1985 and the M S E E degree from
California State University, Northndge, in 1987
She received the Engineer degree in 1994 from
the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA),
where she is currently pursuing the Ph D degree
In 1984 she worked for Rockwell International,
NAAO Since 1985 she has worked with the Radar
Systems Group at Hughes Aircraft Company in
the Electromagnebc Systems and Solid State Microwave Laboratones. Her experience includes the design and development
of phase shifters, RF feed networks, radiator elements and transmivreceive
modules for airborne phased array and active array antennas, for whlch she
has received three patents Her research interests include the development
and implementahon of numencal electromagnetics techniques to model and
analyze the performance of antennas and high-density microwave circuits She
taught part time in 1988 and 1989 for the Electncal Engineenng Department
at California State University, Long Beach and was a teaching asmtant at
UCLA in 1993
Ms Virga is a member of Eta Kappa Nu, Tau Beta PI, Sigma Xi. and
the IEEE Antennas and Propagahon and Microwave Theory and Techniques
Societies She was the secretary for the Steenng Committee which hosted the
1994 MTT Symposium

1501

Yahya Rahmat-Samii (S73-M75-SM79-F85)

received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois,
Champaign-Urbana.
He is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the
University of California, Los Angeles. He has been
a Senior Research Scientist at NASAs Jet Propulsion LaboratoryKalifornia Institute of Technology
since 1978, where he contributed significantly to
the advancement of antenna technology for space
programs. He was a Guest Professor at the Technical
University of Denmark (TUD) in the summer of 1986. He has also been a
consultant to many aerospace companies. He has authored or co-authored, over
300 technical journal articles and conference papers and has written chapters in
12 books. He has made pioneering contributions to the developments of nearfield plane-polar and bi-polar antenna measurements, microwave holographic
diagnostics, mobile satellite communication antennas, reflector surface compensation, multireflector antenna diffraction analysis and synthesis. scattering
and radiation from complex objects, RCS computations, singularity in dyadic
Greens function, high power microwave (HPM) antennas, EMP and aperture
penetration, the Spectral Theory of Diffraction (STD), and GTD.
For these contributions Dr. Rahmat-Samii has received numerous NASA
Certificate of Recognitions and recently earned the JPL Team NASAs
Distinguished Group Achievement Award. In 1992, he was the recipient of
the Best Application Paper Award (Wheeler Award) for a paper published
in the Transactions in 1991. He is a Fellow of IAE (1986) and was the
1984 recipient of the Henry Booker Award of URSI. He was appointed an
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Distinguished Lecturer and presented
lectures internationally. He was an elected IEEE AP-S AdCom member for
the second term and has been an Associate Editor of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS
ON ANTENNAS
AND PROP4CATION and the societys Ma,qazine. He is currently
the elected Vice President of IEEE AP-S. He was the Chairman of the
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society of Los Angeles in 1987-1989. In
1989, his chapter received the Antennas and Propagation Best Chapter Award
from the AP Society. We is one of the three International Editors of the
Institute Electrical Engineers (U.K.) book series on Electromagnetics and
Antennas. He is also one of the Editors of the Jvurnol of Electromagnetic
Waves and Applications. He is one of the Directors of AMTA (Antenna
Measurements Technique Association) and the Electromagnetics Society. He
is listed in Whos Who in America, Whos Who in Frontiers of Science and
Technology, and Whos Who in Engineering. In 1993 and 1994, two of his
Ph.D. students were named the Most Outstanding Ph.D. Student at UCLAs
School of Engineering and Applied Science and another received the Best
Student Paper Award at the 1993 IEEE AP-S Symposium. He is a member
of Commissions A, B, and J of USNCLJRSI, Sigma Xi, Eta Kappa Nu and
the Electromagnetics Academy.