Simulation of small- and wide-angle scattering properties of glass-bead retroreflectors

Retroreflective materials are extensively used as traffic signs and security patterns. These goods are often realized by spherical glass-beads attached to some reflective substrate. New applications, especially 3D projection, require the precise evaluation and design of the characteristics of light...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied optics. Optical technology and biomedical optics 2017-05, Vol.56 (14), p.3969
Main Authors: Héricz, D, Sarkadi, T, Erdei, G, Lazuech, T, Lenk, S, Koppa, P
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Retroreflective materials are extensively used as traffic signs and security patterns. These goods are often realized by spherical glass-beads attached to some reflective substrate. New applications, especially 3D projection, require the precise evaluation and design of the characteristics of light backscattered from retroreflective screens. Simulation of such materials is not straightforward due to the different optical processes taking place: direct retroreflection involving small-angle diffraction effects, and multiple scattering resulting in wide-angle diffuse light. We propose a new complex method to describe the backscattering properties of glass-bead retroreflectors that uniquely combines diffraction calculations with ray tracing based on the microscopic properties of the screen. We validated our simulation method by measurements performed on commercial retroreflective samples.
ISSN:2155-3165
DOI:10.1364/ao.56.003969