Curl-conforming MFIE in the analysis of perfectly conducting sharply-edged objects

An MFIE formulation based on a low-order curl-conforming set of basis functions is used to compute the scattered field due to some types of perfectly conducting sharply-edged objects, such as cubes and square-based pyramids, under the excitation of a plane wave. The RCS results for some electrically small examples of such objects are compared with the results due to the EFIE and MFIE operators based on a low-order divergence-conforming set of basis functions. For the sake of most reliable comparison, maximum accuracy in the three operators is ensured by integrating analytically the parts of the kernel of the operators of highest order.