高强度低动量表面加热装置的出现对材料加工领域，尤其是熔焊领域产生了自然的影响。激光和电子束提供了精确控制能量和位置的潜在能力，这是电弧和火焰等旧光源无法接近的，而且在某些操作条件下，激光和电子束几乎不向被加工材料传递推力，这是一个重要的优势。然而，这些电源的极端强度（以单位面积的功率尺寸表示）在解决熔焊中的局部熔化问题时，既有问题，也有优势。 对于更传统的焊接热源，几乎没有任何强度过高的问题。事实上，问题通常与此相反，因为具有相对较高导热性的金属有一种趋势，即几乎以与供应相同的速度将热量从焊接区域传导出去。 从这个意义上说，术语“熔化效率”被用来表示实际用于熔化的总热量的分数，对于典型的明弧，这种熔化效率通常会下降到50%以下。熔化效率与热源强度直接相关，随着热源强度的增加，熔化效率也会增加。

The advent of high intensity low momentum surface heating devices is having a natural impact on the field of materials processing, particularly fusion welding. The laser and electron beam offer potential capability for precise control of energy and location which cannot be approached by older sources such as arcs and flames, and the fact that under certain operating conditions they transmit little or no thrust to the material being worked is an important advantage. However, the extreme intensity of these sources, expressed in dimensions of power per unit area, presents problems as well as advantages when addressed to the objective of local melting as in fusion welding. With more conventional welding heat sources, there was seldom, if ever, any question of too high an intensity. Indeed, the problem has generally been quite the reverse, in that there is a tendency for metals having relatively high thermal conductivity to conduct the heat away from the weld region almost as fast as it is supplied. In this sense, the term "melting efficiency" has been used to express the fraction of the total heat which is actually used for melting, and with a typical open arc, this melting efficiency will generally fall below 50%. Melting efficiency is directly related to the intensity of the heat source, and as the intensity increases, the melting efficiency also increases.