Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mechanical and Thermal Tests of the Containers of Liquid Mirrors

  • Published:
Experimental Astronomy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We give a generic description of a liquid mirror system and summarize some practical information useful in making them. We compare laboratory measurements of deformations, due to the weight of mercury on the container of a 3.7-m mirror and to temperature changes on a 1-m container, to finite element computer simulations. We find that the measurements agree reasonably well with the numerical simulations. The measurements on the 1-m container show no evidence of fatigue after a few thermal cycles. These results validate the computer models of containers described in a companion article.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arrien, F.: 1992, unpublished M.Sc. Thesis, Laval University.

  • Borra, E. F.: 1987, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific 99, 1229.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Borra, E. F., Content, R., Girard, L., Szapiel, S., Tremblay, L. M. and Boily, E.: 1992, Astrophys. J. 393, 829 (Paper I).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Borra, E. F., Content, R. and Girard, L.: 1993, Astrophys. J. 418, 943.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Borra, E. F.: 1995, Can. J. Phys. 73, 109.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Cabanac, R. and Borra, E. F.: 1998, Astrophys. J. 509, 309.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Content, R.: 1992, Ph.D. Thesis, Laval University.

  • Content, R.: 2003, Exp. Astron. 15, 123–146.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Girard, L.: 1996, Ph.D. Thesis, Laval University.

  • Girard, L. and Borra, E. F.: 1997 Appl. Opt. 36(25), 6278 (Paper II).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hickson, P., Borra, E. F., Cabanac, R., Chapman, S. C., de Lapparent, V., Mulrooney, M. and Walker, G. A.: 1998, in Larry M. Stepp (ed.), Advanced Technology Optical/IR Telescopes VI, Proc. SPIE, Vol. 3352, pp. 226–232.

  • Hickson, P., Gibson, B. K. and Hogg, D. W.: 1993, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific 105, 501.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hickson, P. and Mulrooney, M. K.: 1997, Astrophys. J. Suppl. 115, 35.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Mulrooney, M. K.: 2000, Ph.D. Thesis, Rice University.

  • Ninane, N. M. and Jamar, C. A.: 1997, Appl. Opt. 35(31) 6131.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Tremblay, G.: 1999, Ph.D. Thesis, Laval University.

  • Tremblay, G. and Borra, E. F.: 2000, Appl. Opt. 39(36) 5651 (Paper III).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Sica, R. J., Sargoytchev, S., Borra, E. F., Girard, L., Argall, S., Sarrow, C. T. and Flatt, S.: 1995, Appl. Opt. 34(30) 6925.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Wuerker, R.: 1997, Opt. Eng. 36, 1421.

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Physique, Génie Physique et Optique, COPL, Université Laval, Québec, Canada, G1K 7P4

    E. F. Borra, G. Tremblay, A. Daigle & Y. Huot

  2. Astronomical Instrumentation Group, Department of Physics, University of Durham, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, U.K

    R. Content

Authors
  1. E. F. Borra
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Content
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. G. Tremblay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. A. Daigle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Y. Huot
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Content.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Borra, E.F., Content, R., Tremblay, G. et al. Mechanical and Thermal Tests of the Containers of Liquid Mirrors. Experimental Astronomy 15, 147–169 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:EXPA.0000038606.61377.c9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:EXPA.0000038606.61377.c9

Search

Navigation