Influence of longitudinal rise of coolant temperature on the thermal strain in a cylindrical laser rod

Abstract

The thermal strain in a laser rod with a longitudinal temperature increase is modeled and analytically derived through the method of thermoelastic displacement potential and the method of Love displacement function. The analytical results show that in the absence of external forces, the longitudinal rise of fluid temperature has an unnoticeable effect on the thermal stress profile in the laser rod. However, the thermal strain field caused by the temperature distribution under the traction free boundary condition has an evident variation in the longitudinal direction, which will considerably affect the laser transmission characteristics and the beam quality.