Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2011
A three-dimensional transient model for heat conduction in silica glass is developed. The model simulates a three-dimensional temperature distribution in a silica glass irradiated by a moving CO2 laser. Both the reflectivity of the glass surface and the strong attenuation of the laser energy in the glass medium are accounted for by a detailed radiation analysis. The energy absorbed by the glass is determined to be confined in a 10 μm thickness; the laser irradiation is thus treated as a boundary condition. The heat diffusion equation is solved by an alternating direction-implicit method.