This thesis deals with the theoretical analysis of the effect of the water droplets in the atmosphere on the propagation of a linearly polarized plane wave. These effects are (1) scattering - it is found that the scattered power is proportional to the sixth power of the radius of the droplet, also the scattered power varies as the fourth power of the frequency. (2) Absorption - it is found that the dielectric loss is much greater than the conductivity loss in the frequency range 10 M Hz. to 300 M Hz. The absorbed power is found to be much greater than the scattered power in the frequency range 10 M Hz. to 300 M Hz. Multiple scattering is neglected because scattered power is very small compared with the power absorbed. At the end of the thesis an expression for the attenuation constant is derived for homogeneous distribution of rain-drops of particular size falling at a particular rainfall rate. / M.S.

The electromagnetic diffraction problem is formulated in terms of either the electric or magnetic Hertz potential. This approach is equivalent to traditional methods based on the vector form of Green's theorem, but it is less widely known. The components of the Hertz potentials are independent, and each satisfies a scalar wave equation. The formal solutions for these components are therefore given by two equations referred to as the Rayleigh formulas, which are familiar from scalar diffraction theory. A physical interpretation of the Rayleigh solution shows that the diffracted wave may be thought of as a superposition of elementary, electromagnetic Huygens wavelets. Depending on the type of Green's function that is chosen, these wavelets have the same form as fields radiated by dipoles of different orientations (D-theory) or by special types of quadrupoles (Q-theory). Using techniques which are well known from scalar theory, it is shown that the diffracted wave can be represented as an angular spectrum of electromagnetic plane waves, and that this description is equivalent to the Q-theory approach. The use of approximate, Kirchhoff-type boundary conditions in the Hertz potential formalism is investigated. When these boundary conditions are used in the D-theory, the diffracted wave is found to be identical with the results of more traditional theories that apply the boundary conditions directly to the fields in the aperture. Using these boundary conditions in the Q-theory yields different results, because they are applied to the Hertz potentials rather than to the fields themselves. The differences between the two approaches are most apparent when the aperture is small in comparison with the wavelength. To determine which theory is more appropriate for Kirchhoff-type boundary conditions, an experiment to measure the diffraction from subwavelength-diameter pinholes is performed. The Q-theory shows better agreement with the results. It is also determined that the best agreement is obtained when the magnetic rather than electric Hertz potential is used.

The use of patterned metallic surfaces for the control of the transmission of microwave radiation has been reinvigorated in recent years due to the success and interest in metamaterial research. These metallic periodic structures, commonly referred to as frequency selective screens (FSSs), allow responses to be tailored according to the geometry of the metallic structure as opposed to the material composition. A consequence of the presence of a metallic corrugation is the possible excitation of surfaces waves (commonly referred to as surface plasmon polaritons at visible frequencies). Surface waves can be utilised to achieve further control of the transmission properties of a structure. In this thesis several highly original metallic structures are investigated which use FSS and surface wave concepts. These structures exhibit interesting and previously unexplained transmission behaviour. The experimental chapters within this thesis are divided into two areas. The first three experimental chapters (4-6) present original investigations into the excitation of diffractively coupled surface waves on metallic hole/patch arrays and their role in the enhanced transmission/reflection of microwave radiation. The importance of metallic connectivity within arrays is highlighted through measurements of the metallic filling fraction dependence on the transmission properties of regular periodic and random arrays. The last two experimental chapters (7-8) contain investigations into the transmission properties of two novel resonant cavities. The structure studied in chapter 7 provides a mechanism for remarkably enhanced microwave transmission on resonance through an otherwise opaque continuous thin metal film. The second resonant cavity structure in chapter 8 uses a resonant array of metallic crosses to form a ‘resonant mirror’ Fabry-Perot cavity. These resonant FSSs exhibit a frequency dependent transmission/reflection and phase response thus producing an interesting series of modes which have very different properties to those supported by a non-resonant mirror etalon.

Thesis (Sc.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 198-203. / by Dick Kau-Ping Yue. / Sc.D.

Designers of low-power radio systems for use in urban areas would benefit from the capability for accurate computer-based predictions of signal loss due to shadowing. This thesis is intended to fill a need for prediction methods that exploit a building database and consider the three-dimensional profile of the radio path. Models are presented that allow the application of Fresnel-Kirchoff diffraction theory to arbitrarily oriented buildings of simple shapes. Building location information used by the diffraction models is in a form compatible with a geographic information systems (GIS) database. Diffraction screens are constructed at all building edges, including those of both horizontal and vertical orientations, in order to consider all possible diffractions and to compute field contributions often ignored. Multiple buildings and edges of the same building that introduce multiple successive diffractions are considered with a rigorous, recursive application of the diffraction theory that requires sampling the field distribution in each aperture. Robust and computationally efficient numerical methods are applied to solve the diffraction integrals. The software implementation of these methods is tested with example runs and comparisons with 914 MHz continuous-wave measurements taken on the Virginia Tech campus. / Master of Science

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 1979. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Paola Crandall Fano. / M.S.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Ocean Engineering, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ENGINEERING. / Bibliography: leaves 124-126. / by Paul Sclavounos. / Ph.D.

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With a continuing and rising demand for hydrocarbons, the energy companies are installing infrastructure ever further offshore, where such infrastructure is often exposed to extreme waves. This thesis explores some aspects of wave-structure interaction, particularly the maximum water surface elevation increase in severe storms due to these local interactions. The effects on wave-structure interactions of column cross-sectional shape are investigated using linear and second-order wave diffraction theory. For multi-column structures, the excitation of locally resonant wave modes (near-trapping) is studied for several column cross-sectional shapes, and a simple method for estimating the surface elevation mode shape is given. The structure of the quadratic transfer functions for second-order sum wave elevation is investigated and an approximation assuming these QTFs are flat perpendicular to the leading diagonal is shown to be adequate for the first few lowest frequency modes. NewWave-type focused wave groups can be used as a more realistic model of extreme ocean waves. A Net Amplification Factor based on the NewWave model is given as an efficient tool for finding the incident frequencies most likely to cause a violent wave-structure interaction and where these violent responses are likely to occur. Statistics are collected from Monte Carlo type simulations of random waves to verify the use of the Net Amplification Factor. Going beyond linear calculations, surface elevation statistics are collected to second-order and a `designer' wave is found to model the most extreme surface elevation responses. A `designer' wave can be identified at required levels of return period to help to understand the relative size of harmonic components in extreme waves. The methods developed with a fixed body are then applied to an identical hull which is freely floating, and the responses between the fixed and moving cases are compared. The vertical heave motion of a semi-submersible in-phase with the incident wave crests is shown to lead to a much lower probability of water-deck impact for the same hull shape restrained vertically. The signal processing methods developed are also applied to a single column to allow comparison with experimental results. Individual harmonic components of the hydrodynamic force are identified up to at least the fifth harmonic. Stokes scaling is shown to hold even for the most violent interactions. It is also shown that the higher harmonic components of the hydrodynamic force can be reconstructed from just the fundamental force time history, and a transfer function in the form of a single phase and an amplitude for each harmonic. The force is also reconstructed well to second-order from the surface elevation time history using diffraction transfer functions. Finally, possible causes of damage to a platform high above mean water level in the North Sea are investigated.