Integrated Analysis of Thermal/Structural/Optical Systems

Abstract

Productivity bottlenecks for integrated thermal, structural, and optical design activities were identified and systematically eliminated, making possible automated exchange of design information between different engineering specialties.The problems with prior approaches are summarized, then the implementation of the corresponding solutions is documented. Although the goal of this project was the automated evaluation of coupled thermal/optical/structural designs, significant process improvements were achieved for subset activities such as stand-alone thermal, thermal/ structural, and structural/optical design analysis. INTRODUCTION: PROBLEM STATEMENTStructural, thermal, and optical engineers typically work independently of each other using unrelated tools, models, and methods. Without the ability to rapidly exchange design data and predicted performance, and therefore to influence each other's efforts, the prior state-of-the-art for the design of advanced optical systems was inadequate: it has henceforth resisted attempts to achieve the ideals of concurrent engineering. Limited success has been achieved at a very top-level (suitable for conceptual design studies), but only by approximating or neglecting the detailed design tasks that the engineering specialist must perform in later mission phases.

Toward end-to-end optical system modeling and optimization: a step forward in optical design

“…Cullimore et al 8,9 have developed an interesting integrated modeling tool that allows for integrated optimization. It is the only integrated modeling tool with which we are familiar that permits some autonomous optimization.…”

Parametric Thermal Analysis and Optimization Using Thermal Desktop™

“…In extreme cases, the thermal model may have to be updated based on structural distortions. This first step in facilitating the communi-cation between analysis codes has already been accomplished [5,6].…”

Design optimization of system level adaptive optical performance

“…While attempts have been made to integrate optical design software with mechanical finite element tools, there has been no widely available tool with which mechanical engineers can compute system level optical performance metrics within mechanical analysis software for a wide array of problems. 2,4,6 This paper demonstrates how the DRESP3 feature can be used to predict the system wavefront error of a high precision adaptive optical imaging system to support design optimization in MSC.Nastran 7 SOL 200. While the weight of the primary mirror is minimized and mechanical design parameters are treated as the design variables, the adaptively corrected optical imaging performance of an orbiting telescope is held to a requirement.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] By linking predictive methods from multiple engineering disciplines, engineers are able to compute more meaningful predictions of a product's performance and improve the efficiency of the design process. In the design of precision optical systems, such as those used for imaging and communication, the optical performance is directly affected by the mechanical behavior of the system.…”