Scattering from bodies of revolution

The problem of scattering of a plane electromagnetic wave from an arbitrary metallic body of revolution is solved by a theoretical method for arbitrary incidence and polarization. The method permits numerical computations by high-speed digital computers, and examples are given. The incident wave is expanded in cylindrical modes, and an integral equation is solved for the induced current distribution of each mode. The scattering cross section, including the back-scattering or radar cross section, is found by summation of the mode scattered fields. The method is limited to a maximum perimeter length of twenty wavelengths. While the cases discussed in the paper pertain to perfectly conducting bodies, other surface boundary conditions, an arbitrary surface impedance or coatings by lossy dielectrics, can also be treated with equal precision.