Fog dispersal by CO_2 laser pulses: an exact solution including prevaporization heating

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The coupled nonlinear equations governing the transmission of a collimated high-energy laser beam through a fog are solved analytically. The incident radiation is assumed to be of sufficient intensity to vaporize the droplets in the path of the beams, thus enabling a greater percentage than without vaporization of the incident energy to be transmitted. Prevaporization heating is included in the treatment, and the vaporization front provides a moving boundary condition for the solution. The initial laser intensity and aerosol density are taken to be arbitrary functions of time and position, respectively, Effects of scattering, molecular absorption, and heat conduction are ignored.