Non-principal plane scattering from perfectly conducting, flat, rectangular plates

GTD (geometrical theory of diffraction) and PO/PTD (physical optics/physical theory of diffraction) equivalent currents are used to predict the far-field monostatic scattering from perfectly conducting, flat, rectangular plates in nonprincipal planes. To determine the accuracy of the GTD and PO/PTD equivalent currents, computations were made for a square plate with a width of 5.73 λ. The equivalent current results are compared to moment-method (MM) computations and experimental measurements performed in an anechoic chamber. The GTD and PO/PTD equivalent currents results agree for angles away from grazing and near-grazing. For monostatic predictions, the GTD currents are as accurate as the PO/PTD equivalent currents; however, in bistatic calculations, the GTD currents contain infinite discontinuities which the PO/PTD currents avoid. The equivalent current predictions agree well with MM and experimental results for observation angles up to 45° from normal incidence.