RCS measurement and SAR imaging verification based on blast furnace stock line

Based on the requirements of blast furnace burden surface monitoring imaging, this study investigated the measurement of the radar cross section (RCS) of the blast furnace radar target. For the first time, a highly precise automatic measurement of the RCS of a blast furnace stock line in a microwave anechoic chamber was realized. Based on this, the characteristics of the blast furnace radar target were studied. The RCS typical distribution of coke and sinter particles and the scattering directivity pattern of the blast furnace stock line at 10 GHz were measured based on a comparative method, and the measured dynamic range was -10-15 dB. Problems such as the intensity difference of radar echo signals between the coke and sinter distribution in the industrial field were explored and analyzed by the RCS measurement and imaging diagnosis. The stock line shape of coke and sinter on the industrial site, known as platform plus funnel type, was simulated, and bulk materials were placed and scaled down. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging verification was performed on the shrinkage ratio model of the typical stock line, and the reasons for imaging loss and error were deeply analyzed. At a low frequency, the imaging of the funnel section is not satisfactory; hence the test frequency band should be improved. A blast furnace stock line made of standard balls was used to analyze the imaging errors. The absolute errors in the azimuth and range directions are 1.2% and 5.8%, respectively, and the azimuth measurement error in the anechoic chamber does not exceed ±0.01 m.