Unsteady rarefied-gas expansion on evaporation of a condensed material from its overheated surface

Abstract

The problem of sudden unsteady one-dimensional expansion of the vapors of a material, whose surface is heated to a given temperature under the action of, for example, suddenly applied intense irradiation, is considered. The structure of the plane Knudsen wall layer and the conditions under which a steady state of this layer is achieved are revealed. The calculations are carried out using direct statistical Monte Carlo simulation. The results are compared with the solution of a similar discontinuity breakdown problem governed by Euler equations.