The effect of vibration on the performance of lighting devices

Vibrations can change the geometry of a lighting device (LD) structure. This factor changes the light characteristics of the lighting device during its operation. The aim of this research is to develop a technique for determining the characteristics of lighting devices operating under vibration conditions. There is no way to determine the lighting characteristics of lighting devices operating under vibration conditions. This impairs e.g. the safety of rail and air transport. We propose to develop a full-scale 3d model of the lighting device to determine the lighting characteristics of the LD operating under vibration conditions. After that, the natural frequencies of the lighting device are determined using the 3d model. The deformations of each part of the LD structure are determined for the frequencies close to the natural ones. We used geometric optics to develop ray tracing for the deformed surfaces carrying the light sources. Thus, we have determined the distribution of light energy in the cross section of the light flux, as well as the shape of the light flux and its spatial orientation.As a result of using the proposed technique, we have optimized the design of the railway headlight with LED light sources and a glow-lamp. We have also optimized the design of the aircraft navigation light with LED light sources. We believe that the proposed technique can be used to design lighting devices operating under vibration conditions.