Theoretical model for steam laser cleaning

Abstract

A theoretical model for removal of tiny particles from solid surface covered with a thin liquid film by laser cleaning is established by taking adhesion force and cleaning force into account. When pulsed laser irradiates on the solid surface coated with a thin liquid film, a sheet of liquid near the liquid/substrate interface can be superheated through thermal diffusion. The rapid growth of vapor bubbles inside the superheated liquid can generate transient stress wave with high pressure, large enough to expel micron and sub-micron particles from the contaminated surface. By calculating the adhesion force and cleaning force, the cleaning threshold of laser fluence can be predicted from this theoretical model. The difference between cleaning force and adhesion force increases quickly along with the laser fluence and leads to higher cleaning efficiency.