Comparison of volumetric and surface heating sources in the modeling of laser melting of ceramic materials (Q597957)

Results of experimental investigation and numerical simulation for the prediction of melt cross-sections of ceramic material during laser surface melting are compared in the paper. A thermal model incorporating a volumetric heating is proposed. The model only considers the quasi-steady heat conduction problem. The workpiece is taken as a semi-infinite body and the surface of the workpiece is adiabatic. Latent heat of fusion is not taken into account. The properties of the refractory brick, such as thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and reflectivity, are isotropic and independent on temperature. The solution of the three-dimensional steady state heat conduction problem for the half-space is given in terms of the Green function. A linear interpolation is used to deal with the singularities associated with numerical integration. Comparison with experimental results for a high-volume alumina-based refractory shows that the model incorporating the volumetric heating source is more accurate than that incorporating the surface heating source for prediction of melt depths, half-widths and cross-sectional areas.