Numerical Analysis of Ultrashort Pulse Laser-Material Interaction Using ABAQUS

Abstract

Ultrafast lasers of subpicosecond pulse duration have thus far been investigated for ablation, drilling, and cutting processes. Ultrafast lasers also have the potential for laser welding of small components of the order of microns and for laser shock peening to enhance the peening depth. In this paper, the potential for welding is investigated using the two-temperature model to analyze laser-matter interaction for ultrafast lasers. The model is implemented in a general-purpose commercial finite element method package, ABAQUS , to enable broad based application of the two-temperature model in practical engineering problems. The implementation is validated by comparison with linear solutions obtained using separation of variables. It is then used to investigate the potential for microwelding using ultrafast laser pulse for both low and high fluence laser input.