Validity of the Taylor-Sedov Theory for Studying Laser-Induced Phase Explosion and Shock Waves.

Phase explosion is a phase change process that occurs during short pulse laser ablation. Phase explosion is a result of homogeneous nucleation of vapor in the superheated melt and results in a rapid transition from a superheated melt to a mixture of vapor and liquid droplets that expand from the surface. The sudden phase transition results in rapid material removal, and if occurring in an ambient gas, causes a shock wave to propagate away from the surface. Measurements of this shock wave are commonly used with the Taylor-Sedov blast wave theory to estimate shock wave pressure and temperature. At low laser fluences the Mach number of the shock wave can be small, resulting in significant errors in pressure and temperature. The paper will demonstrate conditions for which the more general form of the Rankine-Hugoniot relations for thermo-fluid parameters simplifies to the Taylor-Sedov similarity solutions and when the Taylor-Sedov solutions are applicable. The results are compared to experimental shock wave data from the literature to explain why using the Taylor-Sedov blast wave solutions can result in large errors at low Mach numbers.