Origin of Knudsen forces on heated microbeams

Taishan Zhu, Wenjing Ye

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

The presented work probes the fundamentals of Knudsen forces. Using the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method, the flows induced by temperature inhomogeneity within a representative configuration and the Knudsen force acting on a heated microbeam are captured as functions of Knudsen number in the entire flow regime. Both flow strength and Knudsen force peak in the transition regime and negative Knudsen force absent in experimental data is observed. The mechanisms of the thermally induced flows and Knudsen forces are studied. It has been found that thermal edge flow is the main driven source for the formation of the Knudsen force on microbeams and domain configuration plays an important role in the process.
Original languageEnglish (US)
JournalPhysical Review E
Volume82
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 9 2010
Externally publishedYes

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