Modeling of Ablation on an Irradiated Target

Modeling of constant and pulsed irradiation on metallic targets is presented. The model formulation involves ablation of the metallic target irradiated by both constant and pulsed high intensity laser at normal atmospheric conditions. Computational findings based on effective representation of the melting and vaporization of the targeting material as well as plume formation and expansion are presented. In this context, the available results for representative irradiation from constant and pulsed laser pulse on aluminum and steel targets are used to analyze various ablation mechanisms, variable thermo-physical and optical properties, plume expansion and surface geometry. The relevance of the findings for the development of protective shields is discussed.