Computational Fluid Dynamics to Develop a Micro Particle Cleaning Process using Turbulent Air Flows in the Hard Disk Drive Industry

Detachment of deposited particles in turbulent air flows has been investigated and a numerical model has been developed by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The k-ε turbulence model was used to determine the particle behavior of the system and predict flow effects. Subsequently, the air flow impact on particles was simulated to develop a kinetic air cleaning particle system. Micrometer and sub micrometer particles were considered in this study. Forces such as adhesion, gravitation, aerodynamic lift and drag, and moments of these forces acting on particles deposited to a surface were considered and an experiment was performed with different sized particles. The particle removal efficiency has been studied from the mass flow rate using a mocked up system that tested units to validate the efficiency. The study showed particle removal can be enhanced 40% over no cleaning.