| Abstract: | The model of stable evaporation 1–4] is widely used to study the interaction of intense radiation with matter. In this model the radiation flux normally incident on a planar surface of the body is constant in magnitude, which also guarantees stationarity of parameter distributions in a coordinate system related to the surface. An assumption of the model is that evaporation occurs at the surface only. As noted in 1, 2], however, in establishing metal evaporation the surface is found to be in a liquid overheated state. Consequently, the evaporation mechanism can be complicated by bubble boiling. This process is usually neglected due to the fact that the surface tension coefficient of metals is large (if the temperature is not too close to the critical temperature), and, consequently, the probability of bubble formation is low 2]. Quantitative estimates are needed to justify this statement. Such estimates were carried out in 5, 6], where it has been shown that there exists a certain intensity flux q*, above which surface evaporation is modified by bulk boiling. A number of inaccuracies, however, were admitted in 5, 6], which, as shown below, strongly distort the boundaries of the evaporation mechanisms in several cases. The purpose of the present study is to remove these inaccuracies and calculate the quantity q* more correctly.Translated from Zhumal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 3, pp. 35–44, May–June, 1979.The author is grateful to M. N. Kogan and N. K. Makashev for useful discussions. |
