Effects of Plasma Parameters on the Temperature Field in a Workpiece Experiencing Solid-Liquid Phase Transition

The heat transfer characteristics of a workpiece subject to plasma heating and melting are theoretically and systematically studied. Plasma etching, spray deposition, sputtering, cutting and surface treatment, etc., are usually controlled by energy transfer from plasma to workpieces. In this work, the one-dimensional unsteady conduction equation accounting for solid-liquid phase transition with distinct thermal properties in a workpiece is solved. The plasma is composed of a collisionless presheath and sheath on an electrically floating workpiece that partially reflects or secondarily emits ions and electrons. The energy transport from plasma to the surface is kinetically, analytically and exactly calculated from self-consistent velocity distributions of the ions and electrons. The results show that the predicted surface temperature and energy transmission factor agree well with experimental data. The effects of plasma characteristics and thermal parameters of the workpiece on unsteady temperature profiles and thickness of the molten layer in the workpiece are quantitatively provided in this work. Energy released from recombination of the ions and electrons on the surface is found to play the most important role on heating the workpiece. The deviation of surface temperature contributed by recombination energy can be 1000 K.