Thermal shock damage behavior of CVD ZnS by oxygen propane flame: A numerical and experimental study

Chemical vapor deposition zinc sulfide (CVD ZnS) is widely used as an infrared window material to transmit infrared signals, keep the aerodynamic shape and protect its imaging system, which often suffers high temperature and complicated thermal stresses. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the thermal shock damage of CVD ZnS through a finite element method and oxygen propane flame experiments. The finite element model is developed to simulate the temperature and thermal stress fields by an oxygen propane flame. Then, the thermal shock experiments are performed to investigate the thermal shock damage behavior. The results show that the temperature rising rate of the shock surface is fast during the initial heating stage resulting in high thermal stress. After the thermal shock experiment, the scanning electron microscope (SEM) photographs shows that the shock surface of the specimen becomes rough and the microcracks occur in the thermal shock zone. Good agreements are achieved between the numerical solutions and the experimental results.