Combining the Higher Order Method of Moments With Geometric Modeling by NURBS Surfaces

This paper introduces the nonuniform rational B-spline (NURBS) surfaces to improve the geometric modeling of the higher order method of moments (MoM). The electric field integral equation (EFIE) is discretized by the hierarchical higher order basis functions and converted to a matrix equation. Then the elements of the impedance matrix are efficiently evaluated by a new set of formulas. The bistatic radar cross sections (RCS) obtained by this new technique are compared with those obtained by the commonly used higher order MoM. The example of a cylinder and a missile shows excellent accuracy of the NURBS surfaces and that of the resultant RCS. Moreover, this new technique can fully exploit the flexibility of the higher order basis functions when the surface is highly curved, whereas the commonly used higher order MoM can not.