Analytical investigation into laser pulse heating and thermal stresses

Laser pulse heating of metallic surfaces results in rapid rise of temperature in the region irradiated by the laser beam. This in turn results in high temperature gradient in this region. The irradiated substrate material expands as a response to the temperature gradient. Consequently, high thermal stress levels are developed in the region of the high temperature gradient. In the present study, closed form solutions for temperature and stress fields due to a laser pulse decaying exponentially in time are presented. A Laplace transformation method is employed in the analysis. The resulting equations are non-dimensionalized with the appropriate parameters. It is found that temperature rises rapidly during the early heating period in the surface region. In this case, internal energy gain dominates the conduction losses from the surface vicinity. The thermal stress levels attain high values in the surface region. The stress wave developed is compressive and it propagates with a wave speed c₁ inside the substrate.     

Laser pulse heating of steel surface and flexural wave analysis

Laser gas-assisted material processing finds wide application in industry. The modelling of heating, elastic response of the substrate material, and the wave analysis gives insight into the laser workpiece interaction. In the present study, laser gas-assisted heating of steel is considered. The normal component of the thermal stress is taken as the source of load for the flexural wave generation in the material. The flexural wave generated is simulated and the wave characteristics are analyzed at four locations at the workpiece surface. The numerical scheme employing a control volume approach is introduced when solving the governing equations of flow and heat transfer while finite element and spectran element methods are used when solving the stress and wave equations. It is found that the normal component of the stress is tensile. The dispersion effect of the workpiece material, interference of the reflected beam, and partial overlapping of second mode of the travelling wave enable to identify a unique pattern in the travelling wave in the substrate.     

Laser cutting of steel and thermal stress development

In laser cutting of sheet metals, thermal stresses are developed in the region of the cutting section. Depending on the cutting conditions and substrate material properties, the thermal stress levels can attain high values. In the present study, thermal stress developed in the region of the laser cut edges is modeled and temperature as well as stress fields are predicted. Temperature predictions are validated through the experimental results. It was found that the temporal variation of the maximum temperature along y-axis follows the laser heating source. However, temporal variation of von-Mises stress deviates slightly from the temporal variation of temperature along the cutting direction. Increase in scanning speed enhances the von-Mises stress levels due to the attainment of high temperature gradients in the substrate material.     

Laser-induced surface modification of polystyrene

The modification induced in polystyrene (PS) by the ArF excimer laser radiation has been investigated. Various numbers of the laser pulses of the energies below the material ablation threshold were applied. Changes in the chemical composition of the PS surface layer were studied by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Analysis of the morphological changes in the polymer surface layer was performed via the atomic force microscopy (AFM). The contact angles of test liquids (water and diiodomethane) were measured with use of a goniometer while the surface energy (SE) was calculated by the Owens-Wendt method. It was found that the surface energy change was mainly affected by surface roughness caused by the laser radiation and that surface oxidation had not considerably contributed to this change. The increase in the SE was mostly due to its disperse component.     

Laser-induced instabilities of a continuous thermal trace on a surface

Results are presented that corroborate the important role played by laser-induced vapor-phase oxidation in the onset of an instability of the irradiation trace and formation of self-organized structures.     

激光辐照热障涂层中平面应变问题的热弹性变分分析

 针对激光辐照热障涂层材料的平面应变问题，提出热障涂层热弹性分析的基本方程，对定常温度场给出级数形式解析解，并用最小余能原理和变分法分析了结构的热弹性应力场，研究了最大应力和界面应力的分布特征，并就一些物理参数的影响进行了讨论。结果表明，热障涂层的主要破坏因素为表面拉伸应力，界面应力相对较小，但在自由边界有集中现象，剥落应力大于剪切应力，是导致涂层破坏的重要原因。涂层厚度增加会改变厚度方向上的应力分布，界面应力向中心集中。     

Elastic displacement of surface due to laser picosecond pulse heating of gold

Laser picosecond pulse heating initiates nonequilibrium energy transport in the surface vicinity of the metallic substrates. In this case, electron temperature rises rapidly while lattice site temperature is slow during the heating period. Although the rise of lattice site temperature is low, the temperature gradient is high. This results in elastic displacement of the surface. To model the heating process thermomechanical coupling needs to be introduced in the analysis. In the present study, picosecond pulse heating of gold surface is considered. Three-dimensional analysis of electron kinetic theory is introduced when formulating the electron and the lattice site temperatures. The analysis is extended to include the thermomechanical coupling due to mechanical response of the substrate material. The lattice site temperatures obtained from the electron kinetic theory are compared with the predictions of the two-equation model. It is found that both models predict almost identical temperature profiles in the surface vicinity of the substrate material. In addition, the surface displacement on the order of 10⁻¹¹ m is predicted.     

Laser pulse heating: Cavity formation into steel, nickel and tantalum surfaces

The cavity formation during laser pulse heating of steel, nickel, and tantalum is examined and evaporation rate from the cavity surface is predicted. The mushy zones generated across the vapor–liquid and liquid–solid phases are modeled using the energy method. Temperature-dependent thermal properties are accommodated in the analysis and the laser pulse shape resembling the actual laser pulse is employed in the simulations. A numerical scheme using the control volume method is used to predict the cavity size, recession velocity of the vapor front, and temperature field in the laser irradiated region. It is found that cavity depth for steel is the largest, then follows nickel and tantalum. The recession velocity of the vapor front is high for steel due to the low evaporation temperature and latent heat of evaporation of steel.     

Laser-induced cavitation bubbles and shock waves in water near a concave surface

The interplay among the cavitation structures and the shock waves following a nanosecond laser breakdown in water in the vicinity of a concave surface was visualized with high-speed shadowgraphy and schlieren cinematography. Unlike the generation of the main cavitation bubble near a flat or a convex surface, the concave surface refocuses the emitted shock waves and causes secondary cavitation near the acoustic focus which is most pronounced when triggered by the shock wave released during the first main bubble collapse. The shock wave propagation, reflection from the concave surface and its scattering on the dominant cavity is clearly resolvable on the shadowgraphs. The schlieren approach revealed the pressure build up in the last stage of the collapse and the first stage of the rebound. A persistent low-density watermark is left behind the first collapse. The observed effects are important wherever cavities collapse near indented surfaces, such as in cavitation peening, cavitation erosion and ophthalmology.     

Laser-induced thermal lens study of the role of morphology and hydroxyl group in the evolution of thermal diffusivity of copper oxide

The paper explores the evolution of thermal behavior of the material by studying the variations in thermal diffusivity using the single beam thermal lens (TL) technique. For this purpose, the decomposition of Cu(OH)₂ into CuO is studied in a time range up to 120 h, by subjecting the sample to morphological, structural, and spectroscopic characterizations. The time evolution of thermal diffusivity can be divided into three regions for demonstrating the dynamics of the reaction. When the reaction is complete, the thermal diffusivity is also found to be saturated. In addition to the morphological modifications, from rods to flakes, the variations in the amount of hydroxyl group are attributed to be responsible for the enhancement of base fluid's thermal diffusivity by 165%. Thus the study unveils the role of hydroxyl groups in the thermal behavior of CuO.     

表面热透镜技术测量光学薄膜样品表面热变形

给出了连续调制激励光照射下光学薄膜样品表面热变形场的理论分布,并由此定义了表面热透镜（STL）信号。根据表面热透镜理论实验测量了一个BK7基底高反膜样品的形变,给出了表面热透镜信号随调制频率的变化曲线。实验结果表明：在采用的STL实验构型中,探测了最小1.985 nm的直流形变,对应不调制时的形变为3.97 nm,相应的形变探测灵敏度达到了10 pm量级;直流形变与功率成线性关系;交流表面热透镜信号随着频率增大而减小,在高频端近似成线性减小。     

激光推力器喷管热防护实验研究

 基于激光推力器喷管热烧蚀因素分析，初步提出了反射式和吸收式两种喷管热防护方法，并相应设计了两种喷管。以10 kW级脉冲式CO₂激光器为光源，三次反射激光推力器为对象，进行了两种方式下两种喷管的热防护初步实验研究。结果表明：两种喷管均发生不同程度烧蚀，与相对聚焦位置和激光作用时间有关；反射式热防护通过喷管光学表面对透射激光能量进行二次聚焦，以及良好的循环冷却，可能成为将来激光推力器喷管热防护的备选方案之一。     

熔石英表面热致应力对激光损伤行为影响的研究

为了研究热致应力对光学元件损伤特性的影响,通过实验测试退火处理消除热应力和未消热应力石英基片的激光损伤特性,研究了热致应力对石英元件初始损伤阈值、损伤增长阈值以及损伤增长规律的影响.结果表明,热致应力对熔石英光学元件的初始损伤阈值有影响,初始损伤阈值随着热致应力增大而降低;热致应力会加剧激光引发的损伤增长,相同的激光通量下,表面应力越大的区域拥有越高的损伤增长因子,但损伤增长仍遵从指数增长规律.热致应力对损伤增长阈值没有明显的影响.本文的研究将为CO2激光预处理工艺能否被应用于大口径光学元件提供一个必要的技术参考.     

内嵌定向高导热层疏导式结构热防护机理分析

针对飞行器高超声速飞行时严重的气动加热环境, 提出内嵌定向高导热层的疏导式热防护系统. 运用数值方法分析了特定条件下内嵌定向高导热层的疏导式系统的防热效果, 外壁面最高温度下降了9.1%, 内壁面最高温度下降了31.5%, 高温区和低温区都被封闭在外层区域, 内层温度更加均匀, 实现了热流由高温区向低温区的转移, 削弱了高温区的热载荷, 强化了整体结构的热防护能力. 研究表明, 随着气动热流密度比与辐射散热面积比的增大, 疏导结构的冷却效果增强. 本文还对疏导防热系统的结构参数和材料参数对冷却效果的影响进行了分析, 为结构的设计和材料的选取提供一定的依据.     

Laser welding of low carbon steel and thermal stress analysis

Laser welding of mild steel sheets is carried out under nitrogen assisting gas ambient. Temperature and stress fields are computed in the welding region through the finite element method. The residual stress developed in the welding region is measured using the XRD technique and the results are compared with the predictions. Optical microscopy and the SEM are used for the metallurgical examination of the welding sites. It is found that von Mises stress attains high values in the cooling cycle after the solidification of the molten regions. The residual stress predicted agreed well with the XRD results.     

Evaporation of a thin film coated on a substrate induced by a pulsed laser

The two-dimensional Laplace integral transform technique has been applied to get the spatial and temporal temperature distributions in both the molten layer thickness of a thin film coated on a substrate, the still solid part of the thin film of the target and the temperature distribution in the substrate. Also a formula for the time dependence of the evaporated part of the thin film of the target as well as the molten layer thickness of the thin film were obtained. Calculations of the obtained relations were carried out during the irradiation with a pulsed laser. The derivation has taken into account the temperature-dependent absorption coefficient of the irradiated surface and the chemical reaction in the vapor of the thin film. As an illustrative example, computations were carried out on an aluminum thin film coated on a glass substrate.     

孔径型超分辨近场结构光盘的掩膜热效应分析

基于高斯聚焦激光束热效应的超分辨近场结构光盘存储（孔径型Super-RENS）中，应用光学特性导纳矩阵建立的盘片光传导模型，采用有限元分析软件FEMLAB对不同激光功率和脉宽下的Sb掩膜层的孔径形成情况进行数值仿真.结果表明，当一定脉宽的激光功率超过介质的阈值时，掩膜层将有超分辨孔径形成，且孔径大小随功率的增大而增大.理论分析与孔径型Super-RENS光盘样片在不同激光功率下进行写入的实验结果相符，说明光热效应可以较好地描述孔径型Super-RENS光盘掩膜层孔径形成的过程. 关键词： 光存储 孔径型 超分辨近场结构 光热效应     

表面热透镜技术测量光学薄膜样品表面热变形

给出了连续调制激励光照射下光学薄膜样品表面热变形场的理论分布,并由此定义了表面热透镜(STL)信号。根据表面热透镜理论实验测量了一个BK7基底高反膜样品的形变,给出了表面热透镜信号随调制频率的变化曲线。实验结果表明:在采用的STL实验构型中,探测了最小1.985 nm的直流形变,对应不调制时的形变为3.97 nm,相应的形变探测灵敏度达到了10 pm量级;直流形变与功率成线性关系;交流表面热透镜信号随着频率增大而减小,在高频端近似成线性减小。     

Porous microstructures induced by picosecond laser scanning irradiation on stainless steel surface

A study of porous surfaces having micropores significantly smaller than laser spot on the stainless steel 304L sample surface induced by a picosecond regenerative amplified laser, operating at 1064 nm, is presented. Variations in the interaction regime of picosecond laser pulses with stainless steel surfaces at peak irradiation fluences(F_pk=0.378–4.496 J/cm²) with scanning speeds(v=125–1000 μm/s) and scan line spacings(s=0–50 μm) have been observed and thoroughly investigated. It is observed that interactions within these parameters allows for the generation of well-defined structured surfaces. To investigate the formation mechanism of sub-focus micropores, the influence of key processing parameters has been analyzed using a pre-designed laser pulse scanning layout. Appearances of sub-focus ripples and micropores with the variation of laser peak fluence, scanning speed and scan line spacing have been observed. The dependencies of surface structures on these interaction parameters have been preliminarily verified. With the help of the experimental results obtained, interaction parameters for fabrication of large area homogeneous porous structures with the feature sizes in the range of 3–15 μm are determined.