Dynamic characteristics analysis of a large-aperture rotating prism with adjustable radial support

Support elements as key components in performing the opto-mechanical function have been an important topic for optical system development. Focusing on a rotation prism with a large aperture and asymmetric loading, a radial multi-segment support is developed to solve the dynamic mounting issue. In order to explore the actual surface deformations over the full rotation, a novel dynamic analysis method to extract the transient load spectrum is established to access the surface deformations, including dynamic load extraction to connect varying loads with corresponding rotation positions, typical position analysis to obtain maximum deformation values, and vibration analysis. The results show that a maximum peak-to-valley value on the plane side reaches 103.16 nm when the prism rotates to 159.84°, and that of the wedge side is 74.38 nm when the prism rotates to 213.84°, both of which are less than λ/4 (λ=632.8 nm). However, when excited by the external loads with response frequency, the surface deformations become more serious. Because the dynamic characteristics obtained can reflect the actual usage situation, the proposed method is preferable for system development.