Hyperbolic heat conduction effects caused by temporally modulated laser pulses

In non-destructive testing (NDT), the intensity of laser pulses may be temporally modulated to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of ultrasonic signals. The purpose of this work is to determine the time scale on which hyperbolic heat conduction effects are significant in ultrasonic displacements and stresses for temporally modulated laser pulses, under the assumption that the heat wave speed equals the longitudinal wave speed. A one-dimensional model with a finite train of heat flux pulses is investigated. Using the Green and Lindsay model, it is found that the critical modulation frequency in steel, above which hyperbolic heat conduction effects will become significant, is 2.26 GHz. A dimensionless factor is given to calculate critical modulation frequencies in other isotropic materials. The signal enhancement potential of temporal intensity modulation is apparent in the numerical results.