Wave scattering from lossy dielectric random rough surfaces using the physics‐based two‐grid method in conjunction with the multilevel fast multipole method

A UV multi-level partitioning method (UV-MLP) is developed to solve wave scattering by rough surfaces. The method consists of setting up a rank table of transmitting and receiving block sizes and their separation using fast coarse-coarse sampling. For a specific scattering problem with given geometry, the scattering structure is partitioned into multi-level blocks. By looking up the rank, the impedance matrix for a given transmitting and receiving block is expressed into a product of the U and matrix. We demonstrate the technique for three cases: a 2D scattering with a random rough surface; a 3D scattering problem of a random rough surface; a 2D urban building profile with large height variations where we combine the UV-MLP method with the multilevel steepest descent fast multipole method (ML-SD-FMM).

Diagonalization of the fast multipole method (FMM) for the Helmholtz equation is usually achieved by expanding the multipole representation in propagating plane waves. The resulting k-space integral over the Ewald sphere is numerically evaluated. Storing the k-space quadrature samples of the method of moments (MoM) basis functions constitutes a large portion of the overall memory requirements of the resulting algorithm for solving the integral equations of scattering and radiation problems. In this paper, it is proposed to expand the k-space representation of the basis functions by spherical harmonics in order to reduce the sampling redundancy introduced by numerical quadrature rules. Aggregations, plane wave translations, and disaggregations in the realized multilevel fast multipole method (MLFMM) are carried out using the k-space samples of a numerical quadrature rule. However, the incoming plane waves on the finest MLFMM level are expanded in spherical harmonics again. Thus, due to the orthonormality of spherical harmonics, the testing integrals for the individual testing functions are simplified into series over products of spherical harmonics expansion coefficients. Overall, the resulting MLFMM can save a considerable amount of memory without compromising accuracy and numerical speed.

Numerical computations of electromagnetic radiation and scattering problems for arbitrarily shaped and electrically large objects in the same environment are preferably performed by combining the method of moments (MoM) with the uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (UTD). Composite metallic/dielectric objects with arbitrary shape are handled efficiently with the finite element boundary integral (FEBI) method. For large scale problems, the MoM solution is accelerated by the multilevel level fast multipole method (MLFMM). On the other hand, electrically large objects with relatively simple shape are treated sufficiently with ray-based high-frequency methods, like geometrical optics (GO) and UTD. However, until now MoM-UTD hybrid approaches have been restricted to conventional MoM formulations with only the electric field integral equation (EFIE), resulting in limited modeling capabilities. The same restrictions also exist in the hybrid FEBI-UTD method. The paper presents MLFMM-UTD hybridization for the combined field integral equation (CFIE), in order to extend further the applicability of the FEBI-UTD method. The resulting modeling technique is referred to as the FEBI-MLFMM-UTD method. The MLFMM-UTD hybridization is performed in the translation procedure on the various MLFMM levels, by taking into account additional contributions received at the testing groups due to UTD objects. Due to different ray directions for outgoing and incoming waves, appropriate interpolation and anterpolation procedures must be applied to consider the UTD contributions.

The MLFMM (Multilevel Fast Multipole Method) is an alternative formulation of the technology behind the MoM (Method of Moment) and is applicable to much larger structures than the MoM, making full-wave current-based solutions of electrically large structures a possibility. This fact implies that it can be applied to most large models that were previously treated with the MoM without having to change the mesh. In this paper we discuss the development and implementation of volumetric integral equations for both dielectric and magnetically permeable materials using curvilinear hexahedral elements. Both piecewise constant and higher order basis functions will be examined in the context of volumetric multilevel fast multipole method implementation. Comparisons with corresponding finite element-boundary integral solutions will also be presented and compared in terms of accuracy and efficiency.

Presents results for full three-dimensional simulations of numerical solutions of Maxwell equations for random rough surfaces. Emissivities and back-scattering coefficients are calculated for soil surfaces and ocean surfaces at microwave frequencies. This is unlike analytical methods or empirical models in that different roughness parameters are used for different microwave frequencies and for active and passive remote sensing. With advances in computational electromagnetics and available computer resources, we calculate 3-dimensional Maxwell equation solutions with a 2-D rough surface for practical remote sensing applications. Highlights of our numerical approach are: (i) the sparse-matrix canonical grid method (SMCG) and the physics-based two-grid method (PBTG) are used. (ii) An algorithm has been implemented for parallel computing. Dense discretization of the surfaces is used because of high permittivity and the energy conservation check is verified. We present results for soil surfaces in L- and C-bands, and for ocean surfaces at 19 GHz.

A combination of the multilevel fast multipole method (MLFMM) and boundary element method (BEM) can solve large scale photonics problems of arbitrary geometry. Here, MLFMM-BEM algorithm based on a scalar and vector potential formulation, instead of the more conventional electric and magnetic field formulations, is described. The method can deal with multiple lossy or lossless dielectric objects of arbitrary geometry, be they nested, in contact, or dispersed. Several examples are used to demonstrate that this method is able to efficiently handle 3D photonic scatterers involving large numbers of unknowns. Absorption, scattering, and extinction efficiencies of gold nanoparticle spheres, calculated by the MLFMM, are compared with Mie's theory. MLFMM calculations of the bistatic radar cross section (RCS) of a gold sphere near the plasmon resonance and of a silica coated gold sphere are also compared with Mie theory predictions. Finally, the bistatic RCS of a nanoparticle gold-silver heterodimer calculated with MLFMM is compared with unmodified BEM calculations.

ABSTRACTA generalized hybrid scheme combining finite element method (FEM) and the method of moments (MOM) is first presented to investigate scattering from a 3-D dielectric object above a 2-D dielectric rough surface. The hybrid FEM/MOM scheme is divided into the FEM region for the object based on Helmholtz’s equation and the MOM region for the rough surface based on coupled integral function, which can greatly reduce the computed region. With the rough surface getting larger, the unknowns of the rough surface get more. So MLFMA is employed to reduce computation complexity of MOM region itself and coupling interaction matrices between MOM region and FEM region. Consequently, the iterative process can be greatly accelerated. This generalized hybrid FEM/MOM is very suitable for investigating scattering from composite model of a complex material object and electrically large dielectric rough surface. Some examples verify this generalized hybrid FEM/MOM in high efficiency, low storage requirement, high precision and generality.

A rigorous three-dimensional (3-D) electromagnetic model is developed to analyze the scattering from anti-personnel (AP) nonmetallic mine-like target when it is buried near a clutter object under two-dimensional (2-D) random rough surfaces. The steepest descent fast multipole method (SDFMM) is implemented to solve for the unknown electric and magnetic surface currents on the ground surface, on the target and on the clutter object. A comprehensive numerical investigation of two clutter sources; the ground roughness and the nearby benign object, is presented based on using more than 800 random rough surface realizations which could not be achieved without using fast algorithms such as the SDFMM. The statistics of the scattered near-electric fields are computed using the Monte Carlo simulations for both polarizations. For the parameters used here, the results show that the average and the standard deviation of the target signature represent 5-7% and 3-3.5% of the total scattered signal, respectively, while they represent 16-20% and 7-12% of the signal for the clutter object, respectively. This study indicates the high possibility of a false alarm during the detection process when the target is located nearby a realistic object such as a piece of a tree root.

Complex scattering problems are solved with the multilevel fast multipole method (MLFMM). Geometries include metallic structures (wires and surfaces) as well as dielectric bodies (volume and surface equivalence principle). Validation and application examples show the large savings in memory and run-time of the MLFMM as compared to the standard method of moments (MoM). Limitations regarding dielectric bodies are addressed, which are encountered when attempting to model highly lossy dielectric bodies with a high permittivity.

We are proposing a new numerical method for solving the scattering problem for a 1D random rough surface with a high dielectric constant using Method of Moments (MoM). For sea water at L band, the dielectric constant can be as large as 75 + 61i which will require the usage of a dense grid. Traditional MoM solution on dense grid will end up with solving an impedance matrix equation with very large condition number which will lead to a slow convergence rate. The proposed Neighborhood Impedance Boundary Condition (NIBC) has taken advantage of the band nature of the impedance matrix and related the surface electric field and magnetic field within a pre-selected threshold. Simulation results show that NIBC is both accurate and fast compared to benchmark solution or Impedance Boundary Condition (IBC).

While recent studies have proven an unexpected liquid–vapor phase transition of adsorbed liquid films, a comprehensive description of the mechanisms of different types of phase change regimes over realistic representations of random rough surfaces is absent in the literature. The current comprehensive study investigates the effects of a gold random rough surface, liquid film thickness, and substrate temperature on the liquid–vapor phase change regime of an adsorbed sodium liquid film, considering the evaporator section of a wicked heat pipe (WHP) using a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. At first, to generate a realistic random rough surface, a new and promising method is proposed that is entirely based on MD simulations. Then, to simulate the evaporator section of a WHP, a unique configuration for eliminating the vapor domain is developed. The simulation results reveal that three distinct regimes, namely, normal evaporation, cluster boiling, and film boiling, could be identified, which are presented on two-dimensional diagrams with the substrate temperature and liquid film thickness as coordinates for the ideally smooth and random rough surfaces. The results also manifest that even though using the random rough surface could lead to different phase transition regimes, the type of regime depends mainly on the substrate temperature and liquid film thickness. Furthermore, this study displays two different modes for normal evaporation. Also, it is shown that the impacts of the liquid film thickness and substrate temperature on the mode of normal evaporation are much more significant than the surface roughness.

A fast numerical approach for wave scattering from random rough surfaces using the method of moments with the vector triangular basis function is presented. It entails the use of a single integral equation in conjunction with a multilevel sparse-matrix canonical-grid method. To cope with an extremely large surface, a beam decomposition technique is incorporated, by which the scattering by a large surface is translated into analyzing a set of pieces of the area. Numerical examples are provided for Monte-Carlo simulation of microwave scattering from ocean and soil surfaces.

The physical optics approach and Lorentz transformations are combined to formulate scatter from a random rough surface in uniform motion. The perfectly conducting scatterer is excited by an elliptically polarized plane electromagnetic wave and the analysis ends in the velocity‐dependent expressions for the scattering cross section per unit area, the depolarization factor and the radial tilt. The direction of motion is considered parallel as well as normal to the scatterer's mean plane. The combined effect of roughness and motion on scattering and depolarization is investigated through a numerical example. The calculations reveal that parallel motion modifies scatter through aberration while normal motion results in scatter amplification. The depolarization factor and/or radial tilt might be used for motion estimation.

Effects of random road surface roughness and long-term deflection of prestressed concrete girder and cable-stayed bridges on impact due to moving vehicles

The finite element method (FEM) of Monte Carlo simulations of random rough surface scattering is extended to penetrable rough surface scattering. The attraction of the method is the banded nature of the resulting matrix equation. The method yields a system of linear algebraic equations which is solved by a direct sparse symmetric matrix inversion. Convergence and accuracy of the method is demonstrated and established by varying various input parameters such as the number of evanescent waves, the number of sampling points and the surface lengths. Results with incident plane wave TE polarization are presented for both the mean reflected scattered intensity and the mean transmitted scattered intensity as a function of surface parameters such as RMS surface heights and correlation lengths. The numerical results are compared against the tapered wave integral equation (TWIE) method. The results of a tapered wave solution of the integral equation averaging over many realizations are in good numerical ag...