The Practical Behavior of Various Edge-Diffraction Formulas

Author

Durgin, Gregory D.

Author_Institution

Georgia Inst. of Technol., Atlanta, GA, USA

Volume

51

Issue

3

fYear

2009

fDate

6/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

24

Lastpage

35

Abstract

The scalar knife-edge diffraction (KED) solution is a workhorse for RF and optics engineers who regularly encounter practical diffraction phenomena. However, the approximate, polarization-independent KED result is formulated in a way that does not provide direct physical insight. In this article, we demonstrate how the KED formula contains similar underlying physics to other more-rigorous half-screen diffraction solutions, allowing engineers to apply common geometrical theory of diffraction (GTD) formulations for all screen diffraction problems. The underlying geometrical behavior of the scalar KED solution sheds new light on these old problems, revealing why it is so useful for solving real-word problems in radiowave propagation.

Keywords

electromagnetic wave polarisation; geometrical theory of diffraction; radiowave propagation; edge-diffraction formulas; geometrical theory of diffraction; half-screen diffraction solution; polarization-independent KED; radiowave propagation; scalar knife-edge diffraction; screen diffraction problems; Geometrical optics; Optical diffraction; Optical polarization; Physical theory of diffraction; Physics; Radio frequency; Radiowave propagation; Diffraction; acoustic diffraction; electromagnetic diffraction; geometrical theory of diffraction; radio propagation; terrain factors; wedges;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Antennas and Propagation Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1045-9243

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/MAP.2009.5251189

Filename

5251189