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CFD analysis of eductor agitation in

electroplating tank
Article in Transactions of the Institute of Metal Finishing July 2010
Impact Factor: 0.85 DOI: 10.1179/002029610X12694310989008

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CFD analysis of eductor agitation in

electroplating tank
L. Z. Tong*, K. Ohara, F. Asa and Y. Sugiura
This work presents an extensive computational fluid dynamic (CFD) study of eductor agitation in
an electroplating tank. The mathematical model of the hydrodynamic properties is presented and
verified in a velocity measurement cell, in which the calculation results are in good agreement with
the measured values. The model is used to examine the behaviour of fluid flow in an electroplating
tank, especially in the vicinity of printed circuit board and shields. The influence of the shields on
solution recirculation is analysed and discussed. The results indicate that solution recirculation
could be improved when the eductors are arranged inclined to the printed circuit board.
Keywords: Electroplating tank, Fluid flow, Eductor agitation, Numerical analysis

Introduction
Computer modelling of electroplating processes has
proved valuable as an experimental tool for the purpose
of understanding the way in which the plating bath
conditions control the characteristics of deposits produced. Since the current density at the cathode surface
controls the distribution of coating thickness, the
calculation of current density has been widely used for
designing electroplating cells.15 It is known that at
currents much below the limiting current, the solution of
the current density can be regarded as the potential theory
problem, i.e. the current distribution is determined by the
ohmic potential drop in the solution and the electrode
overpotential, termed as secondary current distribution,
in which the current distribution determined only by the
ohmic potential drop in the solution is termed as primary
current distribution. However, in the cases close to the
limiting current, diffusion and convective transport
become essential,3 which was termed as the tertiary
current problem by Averill and Mahmood.4,5 Thus, the
solution for the tertiary current distribution is required to
calculate the electric field and the mass transfer of
electroactive species over the cathode surface together.
Since fluid flows under real situations are quite complex,
e.g. involving turbulent flows, the solution of the tertiary
current distribution becomes difficult. Averill and
Mahmood4,5 have indicated that the concentration overpotential at a macroscale could replace the solution of
mass transfer of electroactive species over microscales.
Also, the concentration overpotential is known to vary
with the prevailing hydrodynamic conditions. It is thus
essential to recognise the hydrodynamic properties in
electroplating cells.
Agitation has been recognised as a necessary parameter for electroplating. Agitation is by far the most
Central Research Laboratory, C. Uyemura & Co., Ltd, 1 5 1 Deguchi,
Hirakata, Osaka 573 0065, Japan
*Corresponding author, email lizhu-tong@uyemura.co.jp

2010 Institute of Metal Finishing

Published by Maney on behalf of the Institute
Received 06 August 2009; accepted 28 January 2010
DOI 10.1179/002029610X12694310989008

effective way of improving mass transfer of electroactive

species so as to increase rates of electroplating. The
major agitation modes are possessed of cathode
reciprocation, air bubbling, eductor agitation, mechanical stirring, vibratory agitation, and so on. The
advantage of eductor agitation is embodied in elimination of air from the solution, thus eliminating any
oxidative tendency and maintaining true conductivity of
a single phase fluid.6,7 Ward et al.8 implemented the
experimental study of eductor technology for printed
circuit board (PCB) production in laboratory situations
using one to eight eductors. Since the eductor agitation
technique has been widely used in electroplating
systems,9 the analysis of the behaviour of fluid flows
agitated by eductors has been an essential factor to
assess these electroplating systems. Unfortunately, until
now no systematic theoretical study on eductor agitation
in electroplating processes has been reported.
In this work the study of hydrodynamic properties of
fluid flows agitated by eductors is performed. First, the
study is carried out in a velocity measurement cell, in
which the velocities of fluid flow jetted from an eductor
nozzle are measured and compared with the calculation
results. Second, the verified calculation model is applied
to examine the behaviour of fluid flow in an electroplating tank. The finite volume based computational
fluid dynamic (CFD) software, FLUENT, is used to
solve the equation systems based on modelling of fluid
flow. The behaviour of eductor agitation and the
distribution of fluid flow along the PCB are obtained.
The influence of shields on solution recirculation is
analysed. Finally, the arrangement of the angle between
the eductors and the PCB is proposed and analysed.

Experimental
The experimental configuration of a velocity measurement cell is shown in Fig. 1. An eductor is set at the
bottom of the measurement cell. A velocity sensor is
arranged at the horizontal plane of L510 mm and
50 mm apart from the outlet of the eductor and moved

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Tong et al.

CFD analysis of eductor agitation in electroplating tank

1 Experimental
cell

conguration

of

velocity

measurement
3 Computational mesh of velocity measurement cell

on the measurement plane L in the experiment. The

features and image of eductor are shown in Fig. 2.
In the experiment, the measurement cell is filled with
water. An EJX series eductor with inlet diameter of
3 mm is used, which is made of polypropylene with a
pipe connection size of 1/4M from H. Ikeuchi & Co.,
Ltd, Japan. A constant temperature hot-wire anemometer made from Kanomax Japan Inc. is applied to
measure the velocities of fluid flow jetted from the outlet
of eductor. The anemometer contains a Wheatstone
bridge and a feedback amplifier. In measurement, the
temperature is controlled at 25uC and the velocity of
fluid flow can be obtained only by measuring the bridge
voltage. The detailed description of mechanism of the
anemometer can be found in Ref. 10. The measurement
is located over a horizontal distance from the centre of
the eductor, i.e. D5120 mm as shown in Fig. 1. The
measuring intervals are 5 mm in the region close to the
centre of the eductor and 10 mm outside the region.

Simulation method
In this work, a three-dimensional (3D) CFD modelling
for incompressible stationary fluid flow is made, in
which a realisable k2e turbulent model11 validated for a
wide range of flows is used. The governing equations of
fluid flows are described as11,12
The conservation equation of mass
L
rui ~0
Lxi

where

{rui uj ~mt


Lui Luj
2
{ rkdij ,
z
3
Lxj Lxi

dij is Kronecker delta:

The equations of the realisable k2e turbulent model

 


L
L
m Lk
zGk {re
rkuj ~
mz t
(3)
Lxj
Lxj
sk Lxj


L
L
reuj ~
Lxj
Lxj


 
ut Le
z
mz
se Lxj

rC1 Se{rC2

e2
kzve1=2

(4)

where r is the fluid density (kg m23), p is the pressure (Pa),

xi is the coordinate (m), ui is the fluid velocity (m s21),
m is the dynamic viscosity (Pa s), n is the kinematic viscosity
(m2 s21), k is the turbulent kinetic energy (m2 s22),
e is the turbulent dissipation rate of kinetic energy
Luj
k2
(m2 s23). Gk ~{rui uj
~mt S 2 , in which mt ~rCm ,
Lxi 
e


1=2
1 Luj Lui
. The determinaS~ 2Sij Sij
, and Sij ~
z
2 Lxi Lxj
tion of Cm can be referred to the relative references.11 The

(1)

The conservation equation of momentum

 



L
Lp
L
Lui Luj
z
rui uj ~{
z
m
z
Lxj
Lxi Lxj
Lxj Lxi


L
{rui uj
Lxj

(2)

4 Conguration
Ucon-Jr

2 Image of eductor

186

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of

tank

of

an

electroplating

system:

Tong et al.

CFD analysis of eductor agitation in electroplating tank

5 Calculation model of electroplating tank



g
k
other parameters are C1 ~ max 0:43,
, g~S ,
gz5
e
C251?9, sk51?0, and se51?2.
In this work, equations (1)(4) of fluid flow modelling
are solved using the finite volume method and the
pressure implicit with splitting of operators/semi-implicit
method for pressure linked equations corrected Patankar
algorithm.11 The calculation is realised at a 3D space
dimension and the modelling is described as follows.
The calculation is first carried out in the velocity
measurement cell shown in Fig. 1 to verify the computational scheme, e.g. the chosen turbulent model and the
assigned boundary conditions. In order to save the
computational time, a quarter of the measurement cell is
considered as the solved region. In the measurement cell,
the liquid surface is a free interface because air which
contacts liquid can move so that the problem becomes
biphasic, and then more difficult. In the present work
only the liquid phase flow is calculated by supposing
that at the interface the wall shear stress is null.13 The
complicated biphasic flow calculation is not involved.
Figure 3 shows the computational mesh. The numbers
of mesh cells and nodes are 236 623 and 52 042. In order
to improve the computational accuracy around the inlet
and outlet of the eductor, a dense division of mesh is
made in the region. The computational time is 2?5 h.
The calculation is performed at a high performance
computing workstation 5000-XW216T with two CPUs
of Xeon 2?33 GHz and 4 MB L2Cache.
A vertically and continuously transporting type
copper electroplating system, Ucon-Jr,9 is used for
studying the behaviour of fluid flows agitated by
eductors in electroplating processes. The tank of the
system is shown in Fig. 4, in which the PCB is vertically
set as a cathode in the middle of the tank. The eductors
and anodes are symmetrically arranged on the both sides
of the PCB. The shields for cathode and anodes are
arranged at the upper and lower locations of the tank.
The corresponding calculating model is shown in Fig. 5,
in which half of the tank, divided by the PCB, is
considered as the solved region and seven eductors set
Table 1 Conditions of experimental and calculation

Vertical distance from

the outlet of eductor
Inlet pressure/kPa
Inlet flowrate/L min21
Inlet flow velocity/m s21

Experimental

Calculation

10 mm/50 mm

10 mm/50 mm

50
4.125
9.726

50
4
9.431

6 Comparison of experimental and calculated results

by verticality in the tank are replaced by three eductors

so as to save the excessive computational time. In
calculation, only the liquid phase flow is considered and
the boundary condition of liquid surface is assigned that
the wall shear stress is null as made above. The numbers
of mesh cells and nodes are 3 037 236 and 651 244. The
computational time is 58?72 h. The chosen convergence
criterion is that the computational residuals of equations (1)(4) are lower than 1023.

Results and discussion

Table 1 shows the conditions of experimental and
numerical calculation. The experimental and calculation
results in the measurement cell are shown in Fig. 6. They
both agree well. It is seen that the velocity quickly
reduces at D(10 mm and arrives at about zero at
D.20 mm. Thus, it could be concluded that the current
modelling is appropriate for studying the fluid flows
agitated by eductors in electroplating processes. The
simulation results of eductor agitation in an electroplating tank are shown in Figs. 79.
Figure 7a shows the low velocity distribution of fluid
flows in the electroplating tank. The fluid flows possessed
of low velocities are mainly located around the shields of
anode and cathode. The shields obstruct the development
of fluid flows and force fluid flows to change the
directions on the shield surfaces. As a result, the flow
velocities in the vicinity of the shields are considerably
reduced so that a low flow velocity region around the
lower shields is formed. The fluid flows on the surface of
the PCB are estimated by the velocity distribution at the
location of 2 mm apart from the PCB, as shown in
Fig. 7b. The arrival of fluid flow at the PCB forms a
stagnation point (white point) corresponding to each
eductor nozzle. The stagnation points located between
the neighbouring two fluid flows are seen as white lines.
As shown in Fig. 8, the flow velocity quickly reduces
in the region close to the PCB surface. The velocities of
fluid flows jetted from the central eductors reduce ,70%
in comparison with the neighbouring maximum value
when fluid flows arrive at the location of 2 mm apart
from the PCB. It can also be seen that the flow velocities
reduce ,40% at the upper edge of the PCB centre and at
the lower edge of the PCB at the eductors neighbouring
to the PCB centre.

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CFD analysis of eductor agitation in electroplating tank

(a)

(b)
21

21

a low flow velocity (m s ); b flow velocity at location of 2 mm apart from PCB (m s

7 Distribution of uid ow in electroplating tank

(a)

(b)

a distribution between lower cathode shield and middle of the lower two central eductors; b distribution between upper
central eductor and liquid surface
8 Distribution of uid ow in y direction corresponding to Fig. 7b, where solid line is at PCB centre and dot line is at
eductors neighbouring to PCB centre

A
C
B

9 Distribution of uid ow in cross-section perpendicular to PCB

The behaviour of fluid flows arriving at the PCB and

the shields is shown in Fig. 9. The flow velocities quickly
reduce after fluid flows are jetted from the eductor
nozzles and change the directions when fluid flows arrive
at the PCB surface. The obstruction of the shields to

188

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fluid flows, as discussed above, especially around the

cathode shields, can be obviously seen here.
In order to improve solution recirculation, the arrangement of the angle between eductors and the PCB is
studied. First, a two-dimensional (2D) simulation is

NO

Tong et al.

10 Flow velocities along PCB in 2D simulations at a590,

75, 65 and 55u

carried out so as to determine an appropriate angle

between eductors and the PCB. Then, the determined angle is used for the 3D calculation. The
results are presented in Figs. 10 and 11. It is noted that
due to the existence of angle, the side eductors
perpendicular to the PCB are not possessed of symmetric relation to the PCB so that they are omitted from
the calculating model shown in Fig. 5 in the following
work.
The 2D simulations show that when eductors are
arranged perpendicular to the PCB, fluid flows jetted
from eductor nozzles arrive almost vertically at the PCB.
The fluid flows come into collision with the PCB so that

CFD analysis of eductor agitation in electroplating tank

two contrary flows are generated along the PCB surface.

When two contrary flows encounter in the middle of the
horizontally neighbouring eductors, another low flow
velocity region is formed. As shown in Fig. 10, there exist
five low velocity regions. In order to reduce the low flow
velocity regions, in the present work the angle a between
eductors and the PCB is adjusted. The simulations at
a590, 75, 65 and 55u are performed. At a(65u, the
contrary flows along the PCB surface become a unidirectional flow and only one of five low flow velocity regions
is left. It is noted that when a becomes smaller, e.g. 55u,
the low flow velocity regions are not further cut down but
the velocity of fluid flow arriving at the PCB is
considerably reduced. Therefore, a565u is considered as
an appropriate angle between eductors and the PCB,
which is used in the following 3D calculations.
Figure 11 shows the results of the 3D simulations in
the electroplating tank at a590 and 65u. In comparison
of the results at a565u with those at a590u, the low flow
velocity regions are reduced in the centre of the tank, as
shown in Fig. 11b. It is known that the fluid flows along
the PCB surface play an important role in electroplating
processes, the results shown in Figs. 11c and d indicate
that when eductors are arranged inclined to the PCB, the
range of stagnation points reduces and the relative high
velocity regions spread out.
It could be concluded that the arrangement of an
appropriate angle between eductors and the PCB would
be beneficial to improve solution recirculation. The
conclusion is consistent with the investigation results of
eductor inclination by Ward et al.8 In their study, the
effectiveness of agitations for different inclined angles
was estimated and the deposit thickness distribution was
improved by an optimum inclined angle.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

a low flow velocity at a590u; b low flow velocity at a565u; c flow velocity at location of 2 mm apart from PCB at
a590u; d flow velocity at location of 2 mm apart from PCB at a565u
11 Distribution of uid ows in electroplating tank at different angle a (unit of ow velocity: m s21)

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CFD analysis of eductor agitation in electroplating tank

Conclusions

References

A 3D CFD study was realised in a velocity measurement

cell and an electroplating tank. It was shown that the
calculated flow velocities in a velocity measurement cell
were in good agreement with the measured ones. The
distribution of fluid dynamics involving eductor agitation
in an electroplating tank was presented for the first time
and the effect of the shields of cathode and anode to fluid
flows were analysed. The quick reduction of flow velocity
from eductor nozzle to the PCB surface was discussed.
The study of the angle between the eductors and the
PCB indicated that the low flow velocity regions could be
reduced by arranging the eductors inclined to the PCB. An
appropriate angle a565u between the eductors and the
PCB was proposed on the basis of a 2D simulation and was
applied for the 3D calculations in the electroplating tank.
The present work provides a useful tool for designing
electroplating cells. The commercial application is likely
to be expanded in the near future.

1. H. Kawamoto: J. Appl. Electrochem., 1992, 22, 11131116.

2. K. Ohara: J. Surf. Finish. Soc. Jpn, 1999, 50, 2428.
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