Numerical Simulation for Variations of Airflow Induced by an Object Getting In and Out of a Workbench

• Published in: Numerical heat transfer. Part A, Applications Vol. 39; no. 6; pp. 593 - 609
• Main Author: Yang, Wu-Shung Fu, Suh-Jenq
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Informa UK Ltd 11.05.2001; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Computational methods in fluid dynamics; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Fluid dynamics; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Lithography, masks and pattern transfer; Microelectronic fabrication (materials and surfaces technology); Physics; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Finite element method; Vertical flow; Air flow; Microelectronic fabrication; Euler Lagrange equation; Laminar flow; Computational fluid dynamics; Numerical simulation; Clean room; Velocity distribution; Mesh generation
• ISSN: 1040-7782; 1521-0634
• DOI: 10.1080/10407780117056

The variations of airflow patterns induced by an object getting in and out of a workbench in a vertical laminar flow cleanroom are studied numerically. This subject is an important issue of microcontamination control for fabrication of precision devices. The characteristic of the variations of the airflow is dynamic and is a type of moving boundary problem. An arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) kinematic description method is employed to describe the flow field, and a penalty finite element formulation with moving meshes is adopted to solve this problem. Three different moving speeds of the moving object with Reynolds number Re = 500 are considered. The results show that the formation of recirculation zones, which inhibit removing contaminants, is remarkably dependent upon the moving speed of the object getting in and out of the workbench.