Explosion of a Water Droplet by Pulsed Laser Heating

Abstract

The explosive vaporization of a single aerosol droplet by pulsed laser radiation is investigated. The conservation equations for mass, momentum, and energy govern the hydrodynamic response of the system. These are solved for the case of instantaneous, uniform heating. Some regions of the flow manifest shock waves with associated shock heating. The shock heating has implications regarding aerosol-enhanced breakdown of air. Other regions of the flow undergo rapid expansion and cooling. Strong cooling allows the possibility of condensation. To investigate this, nucleation rates based on classical nucleation theory have been computed. The computed nucleation rates are quite high in some regions of the flow. This means that condensation can have a significant impact on both the hydrodynamics and the electrodynamics of the system. The power density required for “inertially locked heating” and its implications are discussed.