Laser heating and surface evaporation

In the present study, laser heating of solid substrate and evaporation of the surface are considered. The numerical method is employed to predict the temperature field in the solid as well as in the vapor front. The absorption of incident laser beam by the evaporating front and by the solid is accommodated to account for the absorption process. It is found that temperature decays sharply across the solid–vapor interface due to the location of the laser power intensity, which moves with the interface towards the solid bulk as evaporation of the surface progresses. The recession velocity becomes high in the early evaporation stage and as the heating period progresses, recession velocity becomes almost steady. Consequently, the transient behavior of evaporation can be observed during the early evaporation period.