Experimental Study and Numerical Modeling of Gas Flow in Microchannels and Micronozzles
Abstract
During the course of this research effort gas flows in microchannels and micronozzles were studied both experimentally and numerically. For the experimental study a flow visualization system was built and used to Study gas flows in microscale. Gas velocity measurements in microscope were conducted using both Laser Induced Fluorescence technique in conjunction with Image Correlation Velocimetry and Molecular Tagging Velocimetry technique. For the numerical study three different approaches were utilized. Continuum computational fluid dynamics was first used to study gas flows in microchannels and micronozzles. For micronozzles, effects of geometrical scaling down and different gas propellants were studied. For microchannels, slip versus no-slip boundary condition and compressibility and rarefaction effects were studied. Secondly, Direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method was used to study low Reynolds number flows in a conical micronozzle. The DSMC simulations were compared with the continuum model and available experimental data, and also used to study propellant gas temperature effect on the generated thrust Thirdly, a Unified Flow Solver that utilizes hybrid approach using deterministic Boltzmann solver for highly non-equilibrium flows at high Knudsen number and continuum solvers for low Knudsen numbers was tested and demonstrated for gas flows in microscale. Tested cases included gas flows in both microchannels and micronozzles.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA443540
Entities
People
- C. X. Lin
- Peter V. Skudarnov
Organizations
- Florida International University