Generation of particles and fragments by quasicontinuous wave fiber laser irradiation of stainless steel, alumina, and concrete materials

Daido, Hiroyuki*; Yamada, Tomonori; Furukawa, Hiroyuki*; Ito, Chikara   ; Miyabe, Masabumi   ; Shibata, Takuya  ; Hasegawa, Shuichi*

In order to preserve a safe working environment, in particular for nuclear decommissioning like the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, special care should be taken to confine and retrieve such particles during laser processing. In the experiments, particle production from the vapor, as well as the molten phase layer in the targeted material were observed with a high speed camera with fine particles collected and analyzed using an electron microscope. The observed results were qualitatively interpreted with the help of a simplified one-dimensional hydrodynamic code coupled with a stress computation code. Characterization and classification of the results are expected to provide a useful database which will contribute to the decommissioning of nuclear facilities as well as other industrial applications.