Optics, radiation, heat
Fraunhofer ITWM
Freeform lenses and reflectors are used for the specific illumination of surfaces (screens) with respect to a required light distribution. Because of the fact that freeform optics make no use of additional dim or projection elements they ensure an optimal light effect with minimal optics. But how to shape the surface of an freeform optical element to distribute the light in an appropriate way? The Fraunhofer ITWM has created a very fast, robust algorithm and developed an software tool solving the mentioned beam shaping problem.
Beside the optic design and radiation in the visible region we have competences in the field of radiative heat transfer and heat conduction.
In many production processes where materials or components are heated or cooled down, radiation is a very important aspect of heat conduction:
- radiative transfer dominates the cooling process of hot glasses
- in hyperthermy laser radiation is used to destroy cancer by heat.
Right cooling of glass is necessary to avoid undesired thermal stresses and breakage of the glass product. The development of special numerical methods suitable for real practical applications is a competence of ITWM. This expert knowledge can be used for the modelling and simulation of diffusion processes, for instance of drug pharmacokinetics in the inner ear after topical administration.
In many cases the material parameters required for the numerical simulation are unknown and can't be measured directly. One has to solve a so-called inverse problem, for instance for parameter identification or as described above for the design of freeforms optics.
The following examples provide a short inside into our activities.
