A study of the heat transfer characteristics of a laser rod in a concentric circular tube

An analytical solution was derived from a two-dimensional heat conduction model with non-uniform boundary conditions for a side-pumped, side-cooled cylindrical laser rod. The convective heat transfer coefficient and the spatially varying fluid temperature were determined from the theoretical solutions or experimental correlations of convective heat transfer in an annular passage with prescribed heat fluxes. The first term of the analytical solution coincides with the result of the one-dimensional model. The other terms indicate that the axial temperature-rise in a laser rod has positive correlations with the axial coolant temperature-rise, the radial Biot number and the length-to-radius ratio of the laser rod. Subsequently, a conjugate numerical simulation that couples up the fluid convection and the solid conduction was performed. Compared with the analytical solution, the conjugate numerical simulation better exhibits the entrance effects of flow and heat transfer; therefore, it may provide more accurate solution in specific cases. PACS 44.10.+i; 44.90.+c