Materials processing using high power pulsed lasers involves complex phenomena including rapid heating, superheating of the laser-melted material, rapid nucleation, and phase explosion. With a heating rate on the order of or higher, the surface layer melted by laser irradiation can reach a temperature higher than the normal boiling point. On the other hand, the vapor pressure does not build up as fast and thus falls below the saturation pressure at the surface temperature, resulting in a superheated, metastable state. As the temperature of the melt approaches the thermodynamic critical point, the liquid undergoes a phase explosion that turns the melt into a mixture of liquid and vapor. This article describes heat transfer and phase change phenomena during nanosecond pulsed laser ablation of a metal, with an emphasis on phase explosion and non-equilibrium phase change. The time required for nucleation in a superheated liquid, which determines the time needed for phase explosion to occur, is also investigated from both theoretical and experimental viewpoints.
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Non-Equilibrium Phase Change in Metal Induced by Nanosecond Pulsed Laser Irradiation
Xianfan Xu,
e-mail: xxu@ecn.purdue.edu
Xianfan Xu
School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907
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David A. Willis
David A. Willis
School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907
Search for other works by this author on:
Xianfan Xu
School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: xxu@ecn.purdue.edu
David A. Willis
School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907
Contributed by the Heat Transfer Division for publication in the JOURNAL OF HEAT TRANSFER. Manuscript received by the Heat Transfer Division April 30, 2001; revision received November 16, 2001. Associate Editor: V. P. Carey.
J. Heat Transfer. Apr 2002, 124(2): 293-298 (6 pages)
Published Online: November 16, 2001
Article history
Received:
April 30, 2001
Revised:
November 16, 2001
Citation
Xu, X., and Willis, D. A. (November 16, 2001). "Non-Equilibrium Phase Change in Metal Induced by Nanosecond Pulsed Laser Irradiation ." ASME. J. Heat Transfer. April 2002; 124(2): 293–298. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1445792
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