THERMAL-STRESSES DUE TO A LASER-PULSE - ELASTIC SOLUTION

The thermal stress field in an elastic half-space due to a single puls e from a laser is derived for the general case of a mixed-mode structu re beam. The mode structure models the output from a cylindrical laser resonator and thus defines a radially symmetric intensity distributio n about the beam axis. The functional form of the temporal pulse profi le is quite general in that it models the temporal pulse shapes emitte d by a laser that is either internally pulsed through radio frequency modulation of its power supply, Q-switched, or mode locked. It also mo dels a continuous beam that is mechanically chopped through external m eans.