The following chapter aims at giving an overview of the use of numerical simulation in the field of laser processing. Indeed, the past two decades saw an increasing demand for lasers in various areas such as healthcare, microelectronics, cartography, optoelectronics, aeronautics, etc. Thus, the comprehension of the laser-material interaction and the removal mechanism became primordial to predict and improve the efficiency of a process. After a nonexhaustive literature review, two simulation approaches (Finite Element and Design Of Experiment, DOE) will be presented to demonstrate the importance of numerical simulation in laser applications. process, numerical simulation can give an insight of what is happening inside the workpiece, which is delicate by experimental means.Multiphysics packages such as ANSYS, ABAQUS, ADINA, or COMSOL are effective for the aforementioned issue and for fundamental investigation. In the industry, another semiempirical modeling method is useful when direct answers are expected regarding parameters optimization, predicting the system behavior or analyzing the effect of a modification. The Design Of Experiment (DOE) methodology shows its efficiency especially when the experimental investigation suffers from constraints such as the availability of the device, the experimenter, the material, the risks, the costs, or the environment.Although nonexhaustive, a list of laser applications and how they were modeled will be presented in the following parts. Multiphysics models will be presented first, followed by the DOE approach. A laser application will be discussed for both types of numerical simulations.
Multiphysics simulation of laser processingModeling and Simulation in Engineering Sciences 162