UC Irvine

This paper presents an experimental and computational study on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for both unconfined flat surface and confined cavity cases. An integrated LIBS system is employed to acquire the shockwave and plasma plume images. The computational model consists of the mass, momentum, and energy conservation equations, which are necessary to describe shockwave behaviors. The numerical predictions are validated against shadowgraphic images in terms of shockwave expansion and reflection. The three-dimensional (3D) shockwave morphology and velocity fields are displayed and discussed.