Backscattering of a hypersonic cone with plasma sheath at different attack angles

A simulation procedure to examine the backscattering radar cross-section (RCS) of a hypersonic object with plasma sheath is presented. Computational fluid dynamics tool is adopted to resolve the distributions of electron density and atmospheric temperature, and then the complex dielectric constant of plasma sheath are found. Volume-surface integral equation method is employed to extract the backscattering RCS of the hypersonic object with plasma sheath. Numerical results show that the plasma sheath can absorb some electromagnetic waves at L-band and reduce the backscattering RCS almost in any direction. Also, the attack angle of the moving object influences the backscattering RCS for both vertical and horizontal polarization incidences.