A GENERAL PROBLEM OF PULSE LASER-HEATING OF A SLAB

An attempt to solve the heat diffusion equation of the laser heating p roblem is made by suggesting a solution which satisfies the physical a nd mathematical requirements of the problem. This was done by consider ing a constant laser irradiance for the cases of constant and temperat ure-dependent optical absorbance of the slab front surface. For both c ases, expressions for the temperature profile in the slab material, it s front and rear surface temperatures, the thermal penetration depth a nd the time required to initiate damage (melting) are obtained for int ervals less or greater than the transit time. As an illustrative examp le, computations are carried out on an Al-slab.