A New Method for Analyzing Aero-Optical Effects with Transient Simulation

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Fluid Dynamics
• Aerospace Engineering

Background:

• Aero-optical effects, caused by airflow over high-speed aircraft, degrade optical sensor accuracy.
• Existing research primarily addresses light refraction from large-scale turbulent structures.
• The impact of micro-scale structures on aero-optical phenomena remains less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and validate a novel method for analyzing aero-optical effects.
• To investigate the contribution of micro-scale structures to wavefront distortion.
• To develop a simulation tool for understanding and mitigating aero-optical effects.

Main Methods:

• Developed a method analyzing photon energy scattering from micro-scale structures.
• Quantitatively analyzed the propagation equation for wavefront distortion.
• Designed a transient simulator using scaling models and artificial vortex structures.

Main Results:

• Micro-scale structures can contribute significantly more to wavefront distortion than large-scale structures.
• Simulation results confirm that photon energy scattering from micro-scale structures accurately represents aero-optical phenomena.
• Demonstrated the application of the simulator in optimizing star sensor parameters for hypersonic vehicles.

Conclusions:

• Micro-scale structures are critical to understanding aero-optical effects.
• The proposed analysis method and simulator offer a new perspective for studying aero-optical phenomena.
• This research can lead to improved optical sensor performance on high-speed platforms.