Mafusire, CForbes, A2014-06-172014-06-172013-11Mafusire, C and Forbes, A. 2013. Spinning pipe gas lens aberrations along the axis and in the boundary layer. South African Journal of Science, vol. 109(11&12), pp 1-60038-2353http://www.sajs.co.za/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/Mafusire_Research%20Article.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10204/7464Copyright: 2013 AOSIS OpenJournals. This is an Open Access journal. The journal authorizes the publication of the information herewith contained. Published in South African Journal of Science, vol. 109(11&2), pp 1-6When the walls of an open-ended horizontal steel pipe are heated before the pipe is rotated along its axis, the exchange of the expelled heated air with the incoming cooler air, sucked in along the axis, results in a medium capable of focusing a laser beam propagating along the pipe’s axis – a spinning pipe gas lens. However, the interaction of the heated and cooler air generates local density fluctuations which generate aberrations on the laser beam wavefront. We present results for the characterisation of these aberrations using a Shack- Hartmann wavefront sensor. The measurements show that along the axis, rotating the pipe decreases y-tilt as a result of the removal of distortions caused by gravity, although there is an increase in higher-order aberrations. However, in the boundary layer, the dominant aberration is x-astigmatism which increases with rotation speed. The results are confirmed by the measurement of the beam quality factor which increases as a result of the increase in the size of the higher-order aberrations. The spinning pipe gas lens is a device which can be used to focus laser beams using air only, but, in the process, the air introduces distortions which reduce the quality of the beam.enGas lensesGraded index lensesShack-Hartmann sensorOptical aberrationsAerodynamic mediaArticleMafusire, C., & Forbes, A. (2013). Spinning pipe gas lens aberrations along the axis and in the boundary layer. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/7464Mafusire, C, and A Forbes "Spinning pipe gas lens aberrations along the axis and in the boundary layer." (2013) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/7464Mafusire C, Forbes A. Spinning pipe gas lens aberrations along the axis and in the boundary layer. 2013; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/7464.TY - Article AU - Mafusire, C AU - Forbes, A AB - When the walls of an open-ended horizontal steel pipe are heated before the pipe is rotated along its axis, the exchange of the expelled heated air with the incoming cooler air, sucked in along the axis, results in a medium capable of focusing a laser beam propagating along the pipe’s axis – a spinning pipe gas lens. However, the interaction of the heated and cooler air generates local density fluctuations which generate aberrations on the laser beam wavefront. We present results for the characterisation of these aberrations using a Shack- Hartmann wavefront sensor. The measurements show that along the axis, rotating the pipe decreases y-tilt as a result of the removal of distortions caused by gravity, although there is an increase in higher-order aberrations. However, in the boundary layer, the dominant aberration is x-astigmatism which increases with rotation speed. The results are confirmed by the measurement of the beam quality factor which increases as a result of the increase in the size of the higher-order aberrations. The spinning pipe gas lens is a device which can be used to focus laser beams using air only, but, in the process, the air introduces distortions which reduce the quality of the beam. DA - 2013-11 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Gas lenses KW - Graded index lenses KW - Shack-Hartmann sensor KW - Optical aberrations KW - Aerodynamic media LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2013 SM - 0038-2353 T1 - Spinning pipe gas lens aberrations along the axis and in the boundary layer TI - Spinning pipe gas lens aberrations along the axis and in the boundary layer UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/7464 ER -