Creating the TIR Lenses

The following procedure helps you create one or several TIR Lenses to merge with the Optical Lens.

To create a TIR Lens:

Prerequisites: An Optical lens must already be defined.
  1. Reach the feature level, and from the TIR Lens panel, click Add to add as many TIR Lenses as needed.
    The TIR Lenses appear in the design panel. For more information on the parameters, refer to Understanding the TIR Lens parameters. The TIR Lens parameters used in the panel correspond to the same parameters used in a TIR Lens feature definition.
  2. For each TIR Lens added, from the Mode drop-down list, select which parameter should drive the lens' dimensions:
    • Select Thickness to define the lens by its height.
    • Select Output radius to define the lens by the radius of its output face.
  3. Click and select a point to define the Source position.
    Note: The source is considered as punctual.
  4. Click and select a plane to define the position of the lens input face (the support).
    Important: All TIR Lenses must have the same direction and orientation (plane's direction. However, plane's direction can be different from the Optical Lens Projection Axis.
  5. In Input radius, type a value to define the internal radius of the TIR Lens on the support plane.
  6. In Depth, type a value to define the distance between the support plane and the first intersection with the lens along the revolution axis.
  7. In Draft Angle, type a value to define the revolution axis angle.
  8. In Support thickness, define the thickness of the ring at the bottom of the lens.
  9. If you chose Thickness, set a value to define the lens' height, or use the 3D view manipulators.
  10. If you chose Output radius, type a value to define the radius of the lens' output face.
  11. In Spread, type a value in [0° ; 90°[ to define the spread angle of the rays. 0° corresponds to collimated rays.
  12. In Spread behavior, select the spread behavior of the rays:
    • Concave: the TIR face spreads from max aperture to 0°, meaning rays are crossing.
    • Convex: the TIR face spreads from 0° to max aperture, meaning rays are opening.
  13. In Spread control, type a value in [0 ; 100] to control the light distribution in the target in the range [0 ; Spread Max].
  14. From the Design tab, click Compute to generate the optical component.
The Optical Lens is created in the 3D view. You can edit the lens at any time. The generation time of the Optical Lens depends on the complexity of the settings.