Experimental and Numerical Investigations of Heat and Mass Transport in Laser-Induced Modification of Ceramic Surfaces

A laser supported process has been developed to modify the electrical and thermal properties of ceramic substrates locally. This process is characterized by a strong thermal iInteraction between the laser beam and the ceramic surface which leads to localized melting. During the dynamic melting process, an additional metallic material is introduced. After the solidification, a metal-ceramic composite has been generated with different physical properties compared to the non-modified ceramic. The heat and mass transfer during this dynamic melting and solidification process has been studied experimentally and also numerically in order to identify the dominating process parameters.