A new method for analyzing aero-optical effects with transient simulation

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Aero-optical effects reduce the accuracy of optical sensors on high-speed aircraft. Current research usually focuses on light refraction caused by large-scale density structures in turbulence. A method for analyzing photon energy scattering caused by micro-scale structures is proposed in this paper, which can explain the macro image distortion caused by moving molecules in inhomogeneous airflow. Quantitative analysis of the propagation equation indicates that micro-scale structures may contribute more to the wavefront distortion than the widely considered large-scale structures. To analyze the micro mechanism of aero-optical effects, a transient simulator is designed based on the scaling model of transient distorted wavefronts and the artificial vortex structure. The simulation results demonstrate that correct aero-optical phenomena can be obtained from the micro mechanism of photon energy scattering. Examples of using the transient simulator to optimize the parameters of the star sensor on a hypersonic vehicle are provided. The proposed analysis method for micro-scale structures provides a new idea for studying the aero-optical effects.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2199
Pages (from-to)1-28
Number of pages28
JournalSensors
Volume21
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2 Mar 2021

Keywords

  • Artificial vortex structure
  • Micro mechanism of aero-optical effects
  • Micro-scale density structure
  • Photon energy scattering
  • Scaling model of distorted wavefront
  • Star sensor of hypersonic vehicle

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