Thermal Stresses due to a Laser Pulse: Elastic Solution

Abstract

The thermal stress field in an elastic half-space due to a single pulse from a laser is derived for the general case of a mixed-mode structure beam. The mode structure models the output from a cylindrical laser resonator and thus defines a radially symmetric intensity distribution about the beam axis. The functional form of the temporal pulse profile is quite general in that it models the temporal pulse shapes emitted by a laser that is either internally pulsed through radio frequency modulation of its power supply, Q-switched, or mode locked. It also models a continuous beam that is mechanically chopped through external means.