Research on the Influence of Model Surface Conductivity on RCS Test Accuracy

The accuracy of the RCS (Radar Cross Section) test is closely related to the conductivity of the model surface. The Chinese military standard has stringent surface resistance criteria for models. If the resistance criteria are appropriately relaxed, model processing can be more effective and expenses can be reduced. However, there are few quantitative evaluations of the relationship between surface resistance and RCS test error, making it impossible to design the model surface resistance in accordance with RCS test accuracy requirements. In this paper, firstly, the influence of model surface resistance on RCS is clarified through theoretical, simulation, and experimental research. The RCS analysis approach of the finite conductivity model is established. Subsequently, taking various typical shapes as research objects, such as the sphere, cube, flying wing aircraft, wing-body combination, and stealth aircraft, the simulation analysis of radar scattering characteristics is carried out under varied sheet resistances and multiple frequencies. A more attainable surface conductivity control standard for the RCS test model has been formulated, which is relaxed by 93% and 727% for models with average RCS of less than and higher than −30dBsm compared with the indicator in the Chinese military standard.