Abstract
Nonimaging optics is focused on the study of techniques to design optical systems for the purpose of energy transfer instead of image forming. The flowline optical design method, based on the definition of the geometrical flux vector J, is one of these techniques. The main advantage of the flowline method is its capability to visualize and estimate how radiant energy is transferred by the optical systems using the concepts of vector field theory, such as field line or flux tube, which overcomes traditional raytrace methods. The main objective this paper is to extend the flowline method to analyze and design real 3D concentration and illumination systems by the development of new simulation techniques. In this paper, analyzed real 3D refractive and reflective systems using the flowline vector potential method. A new constant term of optical path length is introduced, similar and comparable to the gauge invariant, which produces a correction to enable the agreement between raytrace- and flowline-based computations. This new optical simulation methodology provides traditional raytrace results, such as irradiance maps, but opens new perspectives to obtaining higher precision with lower computation time. It can also provide new information for the vector field maps of 3D refractive/reflective systems.
Highlights
The concept of flowline and its associated geometrical flux vector, J, was first introduced as a photometrical theory by Gershun [1] and later developed by Moon [2]
In the seventh decade of last century, Winthrop [3] applied it to the study of propagation of structural information; at the end of that decade, Winston [4,5] applied it successfully to the study of concentrators, showing that reflective concentrators with the geometry of the field lines achieve the theoretical limit of concentration
The main objective of the present paper is the application of the flowline method and its related vector field theory to the analysis of real nonimaging 3D optical systems
Summary
The concept of flowline and its associated geometrical flux vector, J, was first introduced as a photometrical theory by Gershun [1] and later developed by Moon [2] Such a concept applies vector field theory to the study of irradiance transfer, which is based on the definition of the geometrical flux vector J produced by a Lambertian source at any point in the space P. Flowline method has been used to design so-called hyperparabolic concentrators (HPC) [7], which extends the compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) to multiple reflections and approaches the thermodynamic limit of concentration Another interesting result from the application of field theory concepts to optical design is that refractive elements with the geometry of orthogonal surfaces to the field lines produce ideal concentrators [8]. The main objective of the present paper is the application of the flowline method and its related vector field theory to the analysis of real nonimaging 3D optical systems.
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