Assessment of Air Flow Misalignment Effects on Fume Particle Removal in Optical Plastic Film Cutting Process

Many types of optical plastic films are essential in optoelectronics display unit fabrication and it is important to develop high precision laser cutting methods of optical films with extremely low level of film surface contamination by fume particles. This study investigates the effects of suction and blowing air motions with air flow misalignment in removing fume particles from laser cut line by employing random particle trajectory simulation and probabilistic particle generation model. The computational results show fume particle dispersion behaviors on optical film under suction and blowing air flow conditions. It is found that suction air flow motion is more advantageous to blowing air motion in reducing film surface contamination outside designated target margin from laser cut line. While air flow misalignment adversely affects particle dispersion in blowing air flows, its effects become much more complicated in suction air flows by showing different particle dispersion patterns around laser cut line. It is required to have more careful air flow alignment in fume particle removal under suction air flow conditions.