Axisymmetric thermal-creep flow of a slightly rarefied gas induced around two unequal spheres

Abstract

A thermal-creep flow of a slightly rarefied gas induced axisymmetrically around two unequal spheres is studied on the basis of kinetic theory. The spheres, whose thermal conductivities are assumed to be identical with that of the gas, for simplicity, are placed in an infinite expanse of the gas at rest with a uniform temperature gradient at a far distance. Owing to the poor thermal conductivities of the spheres, a tangential temperature gradient is established on the surfaces, and this causes a thermal-creep flow in its direction. Consequently, the spheres experience forces in the opposite direction.The flow considered here is a low-Reynolds-number flow in the ordinary fluid-dynamic sense (except for the Knudsen layer), and the solution is obtained in terms of bispherical coordinates, with respect to which the system of equations of Stokes type is well developed. The velocity field around the spheres and the forces acting on them are given explicitly. The results show the interesting feature that the smaller sphere experiences the minimum force at a value of the separation distance that depends on the radius ratio. This is in contrast with the case of the axisymmetric motion of two spheres treated by Stimson & Jeffery (1926) in ordinary fluid dynamics at low Reynolds number.The ultimate velocities that the spheres would have under the action of the present thermal force when they are freely suspended are also obtained by utilizing the results for the forces of axisymmetric translational problems of two spheres at low Reynolds number. For a given temperature gradient in the gas, both spheres acquire larger velocities than those they would have if they were alone, and the smaller sphere tends to move faster than the larger one in the direction opposite to the temperature gradient.Also presented, for completeness, are the results for the sphere–plane case and for the case of eccentric spheres, the solutions for which are derived as special cases of the preceding problem of two unequal spheres.