Full-Wave Calculation of Complex Propagation Constant for a Medium of Conducting Wires

This article presents a full-wave numerical method that, in conjunction with Monte Carlo simulation, is used to calculate the effective propagation constant of a random volume of conducting wires of arbitrary length and curvature. Bistatic scattering from many realizations of nonoverlapping metallic wires confined within a fictitious spherical enclosure is calculated to determine the mean electric field scattered by the random medium. This mean scattered field is then used to determine the effective permittivity of the random medium using an inverse scattering scheme. These values are then compared with the values given by the Foldy approximation for many particle sizes, geometries, and number densities within a given medium. An investigation into the results is undertaken to determine an expanded macromodel for 3-D electromagnetic propagation through such a random medium, and the applicability of Foldy’s approximation is determined using this model.