Backscattering from a v-shape wire

A theoretical and an experimental study of the electromagnetic scattering from a perfectly conducting thin wire of V shape illuminated by a plane wave at an arbitrary incidence is presented. The distribution of current on the wire is first determined by a method of moments with the aid of a computer program WIRANT (developed by Walter L. Curtis of The Boeing Company). The scattered field and backscattering cross section are then obtained by standard techniques. Numerical calculations include the backscattering cross sections for the case of and (where is arm length and is wavelength) as a function of incidence angle with enclosed angle as a parameter. To check the accuracy of the theory, an experiment is conducted inside an anechoic chamber, using the conventional method of cancellation. The frequency used in the experiment is 9.8 GHz. A number of experimental models were constructed of a copper wire of a circular cross section with a diameter d = 0.025". The agreement between theory and experiment is, in general, very good. The results of this investigation provide an insight into the coupling effect between the halves of wire when viewed as two-coupled wires.