Abstract
Metal capillary tubes are commonly used as leak elements to admit known flows of gases into vacuum systems for calibration of vacuum gaging equipment. In many instances it is desired to generate flow rates over a range of three or more decades, preferably with a single leak element. The generation of flow rates over wide ranges is possible with metal capillary leaks, but in most cases the conductance of the leak element will need to be measured as a function of the relevant pressures due to the changing of the flow regimes. Many fits to experimental data and theoretical models exist for predicting the flow rate through tubes, but their validity is not well established. In this study, measured conductances of stainless steel tubes for flow rates of 10 −8 to 10 −14 mol s −1 with several inert gases are compared with various experimental and theoretical models of gas flow in the molecular, viscous and transition flow regimes. Characteristics of crimped metal capillaries are also examined over this range of flows.
Published Version
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