Abstract
Modeling of the laser induced heating process can yield much insight into the phenomena occurring within the laser-workpiece interaction region. This study investigates the influence of the workpiece speed on the resulting temperature profiles during the gas-assisted laser heating process. Air is considered as impinging onto a steel workpiece coaxially with the laser beam, while the workpiece is assumed to move with a constant speed. The governing three-dimensional flow and energy equations are simulated numerically using a control volume approach. The low Reynolds number k- k model is introduced to account for the turbulence. During the simulations variable properties of gas and solid are considered. It is found that the workpiece speed has a significant effect on the resulting temperature profiles; specifically, an increase in the workpiece speed results in a decrease of the maximum temperature attained at the workpiece surface.