Analysis on the effect of hypersonic vehicle's optical window on infrared thermal imaging system

According to the aero-thermal effects and aero-thermal radiation effects of the optical window, the thermo-optic effect, the elasto-optical effect and the thermal deformation of the optical window are analyzed using finite element analysis method. Also, the peak value and its location of the point spread function, which is caused by the thermo-optic effect and the dome thermal deformation, are calculated with the variance of time. Furthermore, the temperature gradient influence to the transmission of optical window, the variation trend of transmission as well as optical window radiation with time are studied based on temperature distribution analysis. The simulations results show that: When the incident light is perpendicular to the optical window, image shift is mainly caused by its thermal deformation, and the value of image shift is very small. Image shift is determined only by the angle of the incident light. With a certain incident angle, image shift is not affected by the gradient refractive index change. The optical window transmission is mainly affected by temperature gradient and thus not neglectable to image quality. Therefore, the selection of window cooling methods, needs not only consider the window temperature but try to eliminate the temperature gradient. When calculating the thermal radiation, the optical window should be regarded as volume radiation source instead of surface radiator. The results provide the basis for the optical window design, material selection and the later image processing.