Laser Heating Mechanisms Including Evaporation Process-Semiclassical and Kinetic Theory Approaches

Abstract

Microscopic level study of the laser heating process is essential to predict the temperature profiles accurately. Consequently, the present work deals with the analysis of the heating mechanism on a microscopic scale through semiclassical and kinetic theory approaches. In the analysis, statistical and quantum behaviour of electrons, phonons, vacancies and molecules are considered. The probability of collision of each species is taken into account to describe the conduction, melting and evaporation processes occurring due to laser irradiation. A numerical method using the explicit scheme is introduced to solve the energy equations resulting from both approaches. Finally, the temperature profiles predicted from both approaches are compared to the experimentally obtained temperature data. It is found that the results obtained from kinetic theory are in good agreement with the experimentally obtained temperature data.