Investigation of the internal reflectance and prediction of infrared diffuse reflectance of the polymeric coating on aluminum substrate

Abstract

This study employs the ray tracing method to develop and analyze mathematical formulae for the IR diffuse reflectance of the polymeric coating on a metal substrate. The effects of the thickness and the absorption property of the polymer film on the internal reflectance are also investigated. In addition, the diffuse reflectance of the coating/substrate system which is irradiated with a perfect diffuse source is formulated as well. Analysis results indicate that the internal reflectance of the internal front surface (polymer/air interface) is not a constant which depends on the film thickness and absorption property. Closely examining the internal multiple reflections between the front and the substrate surface reveals that the diffuse reflectance of the coating/substrate system can be obtained by summing the fractions of rays emerging from the front surface. By knowing the refractive index and the extinction coefficient of the polymer, the diffuse reflectance of the coating/substrate system can be calculated by the formulae presented here. In addition an alkyd resin coating/aluminum substrate system is also implemented to compare the experimental reflectances with the calculated ones. According to the comparisons the analysis and developed formulae are quite effective.