Study on heat effect of high-power continuous wave laser on steel cylinder

Abstract

This paper investigates the heat effects of continuous high-power lasers on steel cylinders. A theoretical model combining the mechanical characteristics and heat transfer of the steel cylinder that irradiated by a high-power laser is established. Simulations in temperature fields predict the varying heat effects on steel cylinders corresponding to different laser power levels, and more importantly, the thresholds of laser penetrations. The predictions are further validated by experimental tests, which use 1.5–2.8 kW laser irradiating on 7–15 mm thick steel cylinders. It has been found that the ablation mechanism of steel cylinder is primarily dependent on either the mass transfer of vaporized ablation or liquefied material under the action of vaporized back pressing. The present 0–300 s temperature field analyses show that steel melts at 1720 K and vaporizing ablation happens at 3250 K. It has also been observed that in the contact region between the laser and steel cylinder, the melting and vaporization accompanied by the interaction of the ablation process are followed by the sharp splash phenomenon.