Abstract

The flow characteristics of a rarified gas have been investigated in microgrooved channels. The governing Boltzmann Transport Equation (BTE) is solved by the Lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM) for the Knudsen number range of 0.01-0.1. First, the compressibility and rarified effects are investigated in a plane channel by performing numerical simulations for different Knudsen numbers, pressure ratio and accommodation coefficients with the objective of validating the computational code used in this investigation and determining the transition characteristics from the macro to microscale. The numerical predictions are compared to existing analytical and numerical results. Then, numerical simulations are performed for microgrooved channels for the Knudsen numbers range of [0.01-0.1]. Different meshes are used for preserving numerical stabilities and obtaining accurate enough numerical results. For the microgrooved channel configuration, the fluid characteristics are determined in terms of pressure ratio and Knudsen numbers. The numerical results are compared to existing analytical predictions and numerical results obtained from plane channel and one cavity simulations. Copyright © 2008 by ASME.