(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2007) Rassi, Erik Michael; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Christopher H. M. Jenkins; Alan George (co-chair)
Optical component performance increasingly demands materials with tailored properties. Optical systems see applications where ambient conditions can drastically reduce performance. Optics used in space, for example, may undergo severe changes in temperature, which results in large thermally induced stresses and distortions. To minimize these thermal effects, it was desired to manipulate the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) within the material. However, wholesale reductions in CTE may not be optimum since synthetic manipulation of CTE often leads to undesirable effects on other material properties, such as strength or ductility. Consequently, there was interest in distributing the CTE/material property trades over the optical structure to achieve optimum results for competing requirements. Performing such studies relied heavily on Finite Element Analysis (FEA) programs coupled with closed form solutions that give basic understanding of CTE design. To begin fulfilling this need, it is presented here first a revisit of the problem of two infinitely long nested cylinders.
