ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses several examples of the choice of optimal irradiation parameters, both for the physical and thermochemical mechanisms of laser-induced heating of metals. In all cases the approach to the calculations is based on the account of the two competing processes: the absorption of radiation energy and the removal of heat from the irradiation spot by thermal conductivity, convection and light emission. The proper choice of optimal irradiation parameters is possible only on the basis of a detailed account of different physical and chemical processes which occur on the laser-heated surface. Theoretical analysis of the thermochemical problem has indicated that the best profit—from the energy viewpoint—for laser heating of an oxidising metal can be obtained by applying two short auxiliary pulses. Nevertheless, in certain particular situations, when the laser radiation wavelength is situated in the vicinity of the oxide's absorption bands, certain anomalous evolutions are possible.
