Plane Thermal Transpiration of a Rarefied Gas Between Two Walls of Maxwell-Type Boundaries With Different Accommodation Coefficients

Abstract

Plane thermal transpiration of a rarefied gas between two walls of Maxwell-type boundaries with different accommodation coefficients is studied based on the linearized Boltzmann equation for a hard-sphere molecular gas. The Boltzmann equation is solved numerically using a finite difference method, in which the collision integral is evaluated by the numerical kernel method. The detailed numerical data, including the mass and heat flow rates of the gas, are provided over a wide range of the Knudsen number and the entire range of the accommodation coefficients. Unlike in the plane Poiseuille flow, the dependence of the mass flow rate on the accommodation coefficients shows different characteristics depending on the Knudsen number. When the Knudsen number is relatively large, the mass flow rate of the gas increases monotonically with the decrease in either of the accommodation coefficients like in Poiseuille flow. When the Knudsen number is small, in contrast, the mass flow rate does not vary monotonically but exhibits a minimum with the decrease in either of the accommodation coefficients. The mechanism of this phenomenon is discussed based on the flow field of the gas.