Axially Symmetric Compact Range Reflectors: Application of the Analytic Regularization Method

Abstract

An axially symmetric compact range reflector with a blended rolled edge was analyzed and optimized in a rigorous formulation of the diffraction problem. The corresponding boundary-value diffraction problem is solved with the analytic regularization method, which reduces the problem to an operator equation of the second kind, thus guaranteeing a numerically stable and effective solution. The distribution of the surface density and the fields at the aperture and in the near-field zone were obtained and analyzed for different types of the reflector-edge curvature. In addition, a blending function was used that esures an infinitely smooth contour across the junction between the paraboloid part of the reflector and its rolled edge. The procedure for determining the optimal edge is carried out in the rigorous formulation of the diffraction problem by minimizing the deviation from a plane wave.