Thermal stress analysis and entropy generation rate due to laser short pulse heating of a metallic surface

An analytical solution is developed for thermal stress in exponentially time decaying laser short-pulse heating of a metallic surface. Because the heating duration is short, a nonequilibrium heating model incorporating the electron kinetic theory approach is used to formulate the temperature distribution during the laser heating pulse. Thermomechanical coupling is introduced in the analysis to formulate the thermal stress field. Thermodynamic irreversibility is considered and the entropy generation rate due to heat transfer and thermal stress field is formulated during the heating process. It is found that temperature decays gradually in the surface region and becomes sharp as the distance increases towards the solid bulk. Thermal stress is compressive in the irradiated region. Thermodynamic irreversibility due to heat transfer dominates thermodynamic irreversibility because of the thermal stress field.