ABSTRACT
Several types of analyses that can and frequently should be accomplished during the design of any opto-mechanical system are addressed in this chapter. Although very important, optical system performance analyses are intentionally omitted because they are adequately considered in many other places, such as Kingslake (1983), Shannon (1997), Smith (2000, 2004), Fischer and Tadic-Galeb (2000), and Laikin (2001). The details of how to accomplish structural design and evaluation by FEA and thermal analysis techniques are not discussed either. These subjects have been summarized nicely by such publications as Hatheway, (1991, 1992a), Pearson (1992), Genberg (1997a, 1997b), and Doyle et al. (2002), to cite but a few. We concentrate on topics that have received less widespread attention in the literature. These include how stresses and strains are introduced into an optic and its mount, statistical prediction of component failure from stress, and some key aspects of thermal effects in optical instruments.
