Damage concerns, such as substrate/film material alterations, damage, and delamination of thin films, have become a central problem in sub-100 nm particle removal applications. In the laser induced plasma (LIP) removal technique both LIP shockwave and radiation heating are potential sources of thermomechanical damage. The specific objective of current study is to conduct a computational investigation of the LIP shockwave effect on the thermoelastic response of a thin chromium (Cr) film deposited on a quartz substrate and to identify the conditions leading to the onset of plastic film deformations. The experimentally characterized shockwave pressure and temperature (approximated from gas dynamic relations) were prescribed as boundary conditions in the computational analysis. From the shockwave arrival times for different travel distances, the shockwave radius as well as the velocity were obtained as a function of the shockwave propagation time. Radial (and circumferential) stresses, caused by thermal expansion of the Cr film, were most dominant and, hence, of damage concern. It is determined that the resultant temperature rise utilizing a 1064 nm Nd:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (YAG) laser (450 mJ) due to the film-shockwave interactions was not sufficiently high to initiate film and/or substrate damage. No material alteration/damage of the Cr film is predicted due to the temperature and pressure of LIP shockwaves at the firing distance of 2 mm, with a high strain rate gain factor of two (minimum), though damage was observed experimentally for 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser at the pulse energy of 370 mJ. Reported results indicate that the leading cause of observed thin film damage during nanoparticle removal is almost certainly radiation heating from the LIP core.