METAL-SURFACE TEMPERATURE-INDUCED BY MOVING LASER-BEAMS

Whenever a metal is irradiated with a laser beam, electromagnetic ener gy is transformed into heat in a thin surface layer. The maximum surfa ce temperature is the most important quantity which determines the pro cessing result. Expressions for this maximum temperature are provided by the literature for stationary cases. In practice, however, moving b eams are of more importance. Based on a fast numerical algorithm which allows calculation of the induced temperature profile, the maximum su rface temperature for stationary and moving laser beams is calculated. Next, two types of approximating functions are presented relating the scanning speed to the maximum surface temperature. Using dimensionles s numbers, the results can be applied to different materials.