Sharp Cutoff Standard - Parameters

The following page describes the parameters used to create a Sharp Cutoff beam in standard mode.

Figure 1. Target schema with Sharp Cutoff parameters

Cut-off line points' coordinates

To place the cut-off line on the target, two coordinates must be created. These coordinates (X and Y centers) are used to determine the top borderline of the beam on the target.
  • X Center: X coordinate of the point used to place the cut-off line on the target.
  • Y Center: Y coordinate of the point used to place the cut-off line on the target.

Cut-off line amplitude

The beam's amplitude is defined along X axis and determines the emission pattern of the beam (if the beam has a narrow or broad emission).
  • Spread Start: Length between the middle point of the specification line and its left extremity.

  • Spread End: Length between the middle point of the specification line and its right extremity.

    • When Spread Start < Spread End, the rays never cross each other. The Sharp Cutoff element is convex in X direction.

    • When Spread Start > Spread End, the rays cross each other. The Sharp Cutoff element is concave in X direction.

Note: Convex and Concave parameters have no impact on the rays direction on the Target X axis.
Spread Start < Spread End Spread Start > Spread End

Cut-off line orientation

The orientation of the cut-off line is controlled by the tilt angle.

Tilt: Angle between X Target axis and the specification line.

Light distribution under the cut-off line

  • Y Size: Beam spread along Y Target.

  • Y Spread: Ratio driving the beam spread along Y Target axis.

    When the ratio equals 100%, the light distribution inside the specification line tends to be uniform. The less the ratio is, the less spread/the more concentrated the beam light will be under the specification line.

Elements shape

The convexity/concavity of the elements determine the behavior of the rays on the target.

Note: The facets of the reflector will not necessarily appear concave or convex.
  • Convex: a ray reflected on the top of the element will come to the top of the target when Y Size is non-null. Rays never cross each other.
  • Concave: a ray reflected on the top of the element will come to the bottom of the target when Y Size is non-null. Rays cross each other.
Beam ray tracing of a sharp cutoff element and a non-null Y Size - Convex on the left, Concave on the right

Performance

The generation time of the element strongly depends on the termination criteria and on the optical quality. It could take from a few seconds to some minutes by element depending on the demand.

A progress bar displays the progress of the feature generation algorithm. The displayed information are:
  • Element Numbers: Current and total elements of the feature.
  • Status: Progress on the feature generation algorithm (percent).
  • Estimated time remaining: Remaining time for the feature generation algorithm (seconds).