Numerical study of variations of airflow induced by a moving automatic guided vehicle in a cleanroom

Abstract

The variations of airflow induced by a moving automatic guided vehicle (AGV) in a vertical laminar flow cleanroom are studied numerically. From a viewpoint of fluid mechanics, the characteristic of the variations of the airflow induced by a moving object is dynamic and is classified as a moving boundary problem. A Galerkin finite element formulation with an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) kinematic description method is adopted to analyze this problem. Three different moving velocities of the AGV under Reynolds number Re=500 and two different positions of the wafer cassette are considered. The results show that the formation of recirculation zones, which are disadvantageous for removing contaminants, is remarkably dependent on the moving velocity of the AGV and the position of the wafer cassette.