[ATM] Plop to Calculate Warped Mirror ?

["matt" <mariusrf@bellsouth.net>]

Hello everybody,

I am trying to figure out how to use Plop to optimize a warped mirror
project.
Basically, I'd like to be able to edit/change the force of *one* of the
mirror support points and see how the surface error map changes. I'm a total
novice with Plop and couldn't even figure out if this is possible , how to
actually do it being totally out of the question. I know it could be done
through other means, like FEA modelling, but I don't have the resources to
do that . I could take the mirror and the mirror cell and just change the
force in one support point somehow, measure it with a load cell and measure
the mirror surface on my bathroom interferometer. The problem is that the
mirror isn't built yet, neither is the mirror cell, and applying a real
force on a real cell support point would simply propagate through the
whiffle tree and reflect everywhere , whereas I hope to be able to model the
change in Plop as if the support point that changes would not be interacting
with the other mirror cell elements. I don't even know if this assumption
can be made in Plop. . I'm open to other FEA packages as long as I don't
have to spend a fortune , develop code or dedicate somehow the most part of
my life to this task ;-( In other words, if it can't be solved in a few
hours , then I'll just go for first order approximations and forget Plop
.Any suggestions of how to do it  would be greatly appreciated.

best regards,
matt tudor

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