Mathematical model for laser densification of ceramic coating

A theoretical study for the densification of ceramic coating processed with a moving transmission electron microscopy (TEM00) mode laser beam is conducted. A three-dimensional quasi-steady state heat conduction model is developed by applying the Fourier integral transform method. An approximate expression for temperature distribution is also presented and the calculations with it are found to be in good agreement with the exact solutions within a limited region around the laser spot. The depth of the heat-affected zone in ZrO2 coating is calculated with this model. Moreover, a working range for ZrO2 densification is determined by varying the laser beam power, spot size and scanning velocity. The heat-affected zone is found to be confined within a depth of 50 mu m from the surface and the vitrified layers are fully densified for particles of initial radius 5 mu m.