Photon emission from metals under fast nondestructive loading

A study is reported of the mechanoluminescence excited on the backside of metal samples whose front side is irradiated by single laser pulses with an energy below the onset of spallation. The temporal and spatial distributions of temperature, thermal stresses, and thermal-stress variation rates are calculated. The temporal dependence of mechanoluminescence from metal targets is compared with calculations of the mechanical stresses initiated in the targets under pulsed loading. The dynamics of the emission process are shown to be governed by those of loading. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)02005-3].