Sharif Digital Repository

In this work, we study the gas mixing behavior in a micro T-mixer using the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. The gas mixing process is monitored through a T-mixer, which is fed by two different CO and N2 gases; flowing into the T-mixer through the upper and lower inlets. We investigate the effects of axial and lateral wall temperature gradients on the mixing evolution at different rarefaction levels. The achieved results show that any temperature difference between the channel walls would result in an increase in mixing length for the chosen wall temperature gradient ranges and the studies pressure cases. Our observations show that a positive temperature gradient toward the... 

In high Knudsen number flow regimes microgas flow analysis may not be performed accurately using the classical CFD methods. Alternatively, the gas flow through micro-geometries can be investigated reliably using the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. Our concern in this paper is to use DSMC to study the mixing of two gases in entering simultaneously into a microchannel. The mixing process is assumed to be complete when the mass composition of each species deviates by no more than ±1% from its equilibrium composition. To enhance the mixing process, we focus on the effects of inlet-outlet pressure difference and the pressure ratios of the two incoming CO and N2 streams on the mixing... 

We use the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method and investigate the subsonic rarefied gas flow through micro/nanochannels, imposing a constant pressure ratio and a constant temperature difference between the inflow and wall temperature. We further study the heat transfer characteristics of subsonic nitrogen gas flow under this imposed temperature difference. We show that, specifying a higher temperature magnitude would lead to more rarefactions even imposing a fixed temperature difference. This consequently results in a higher wall heat flux rate for a fixed inflow-wall temperature difference. Our investigating shows that the number of simulated particles need to increase suitably if... 

Microfilters are commonly used to block undesirable particles in the fluid flows and to control the flow patterns in MEMS. The main purpose of this study is to understand the effect of gas type on density, pressure, Mach number, and velocity distributions of fluid flows through a microfilter. The Knudsen number is the slip flow regime passing through the microfilter. We use direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method to simulate the flow of nitrogen, helium, oxygen, air and methane passing through a specific microfilter. The geometry of microfilter is unique in all cases. Our results confirm that every gas performs a different performance passing through a specific microfilter, and that the... 

Abstract The torque exerted on the walls of a micro cylindrical Couette gas flow is studied using Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method and analytical solutions. An analytical solution for temperature filed under specified wall heat flux condition is proposed using a previously introduced power-law (PL) wall-scaling approach. The results of cylindrical Couette flow under specified wall heat flux condition are compared with those of isothermal flow. The effects of rarefaction, compressibility, tangential momentum accommodation coefficient (TMAC) and gas-surface heat exchange on the torque values are investigated for slip to free molecular flow regimes. The results indicate that the... 

This paper concern is to study the gas properties effect in flow and heat transfer behaviors through microchannels using the direct simulation Monte Carlo method. The flow is rarefied and supersonic. The channels are investigated at two different inlet boundary conditions. The collision process is modeled using the NTC (no-time-counter) scheme. The VHS model is chosen to simulate collision between particle pairs. The study is provided for many different gases including nitrogen, helium, and oxygen. The Knudsen number is chosen in a manner to provide slip flow through the channel. The results show that the heat transfer from the wall is lower for heavier gases. A comparative study among the... 

In this study, we simulate rarefied gas flow through a confined nano-impinging jet using direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. The effects of geometrical parameters, pressure ratio, and wall conditions on the heat transfer from a hot surface are examined. Hot surface modeled via diffusive constant wall temperature. Various inlet/confining surface conditions such as specular, adiabatic, and constant temperature are implemented and the effects of them on the wall heat flux rates are studied. The results show that Knudsen number, velocity slip, and temperature jump are main reasons which specify magnitudes of wall heat flux rates. Among all geometrical parameters, H/W ratio has the... 

In this study, we present a vast boundary condition treatment to simulate gas flow through microfilters using direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. We examine the effects of different boundary condition treatments on the density, pressure, and velocity distributions and suggest the best conditions to simulate gas flow through microfilters. We also refine the effects of upstream and downstream locations on the solution. The results show that uniform distributions can be achieved if we apply the inlet/outlet boundary condition at appropriate upstream and downstream distances. We also show that all the suggested boundary conditions suitably predict the pressure drop coefficient factor... 

As the use of MEMS-based devices and systems are continuously increasing, the understanding of their correct characteristics becomes so serious for the related researches. In this study, the supersonic rarefied gas flow over microscale hotwires is investigated using the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. Indeed, the DSMC has been accepted as a powerful method to study the rarefied gas flow especially in transitional regime. Therefore, it can be considered as a reliable method to investigate the rarefied supersonic flow over microscale objects including the microscale hotwires. In this work, we study the effective parameters, which affect the performance of these sensors at constant... 

The current research uses an unstructured direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method to numerically investigate supersonic and subsonic flow behavior in micro convergent-divergent nozzle over a wide range of rarefied regimes. The current unstructured DSMC solver has been suitably modified via using uniform distribution of particles, employing proper subcell geometry, and benefiting from an advanced molecular tracking algorithm. Using this solver, we study the effects of back pressure, gas/surface interactions (diffuse/specular reflections), and Knudsen number, on the flow field in micronozzles. We show that high viscous force manifesting in boundary layers prevents supersonic flow formation... 

This paper deals with simulation of transport phenomena in micro and nano pores. The number of cavities and the cavity radius were estimated by using Henry's law for adsorption of Argon onto ZSM-5 and NaX zeolites. This work showed both of zeolites have pores with average size less than 1 nm. Then with using micro- nano channel assumption instead of micro-nano pores, gas flow and heat transfer were investigated. Subsonic nonideal gas flow and heat transfer for different Knudsen number are investigated numerically using the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method modified with a consistent Boltzamnn algorithm. The collision rate is also modified based on the Enskog theory for dense gas. It is... 

Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is applied to evaluate the performance of a new micro gas sensor (MIKRA) for mass analysis of ammonia in the rarefied gas. In order to simulate a rarefied gas inside the micro gas detector, Boltzmann equation is applied to obtain high precision results. This study performed comprehensive studies to reveal the main mechanism of force generation and applied this for the analysis of the gas mixture. Our findings show that value of generated Knudsen force significantly varies when the percentage of the NH3 varies in the mixture. According to obtained results, the maximum Knudsen force increases when the fraction of the ammonia decreases. Our findings... 

We use a direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method to simulate gas heating/cooling and choked subsonic flows in micro/nanoscale channels subject to either constant wall temperature or constant/variable heat flux boundary conditions. We show the effects of applying various boundary conditions on the mass flow rate and the flow parameters. We also show that it is necessary to add a buffer zone at the end of the channel if we wish to simulate more realistic conditions at the channel outlet. We also discuss why applying equilibrium-based Maxwellian distribution on molecules coming from the channel outlet, where the flow is nonequilibrium, will not disturb the DSMC solution. The current... 

This work investigates the species separation in the rarefied flow of the argon-helium mixture through convergent-divergent micronozzles. Imposing a molecular mass ratio in the order of 10, the flow of this mixture can lead to the formation of serious nonhomogeneous phenomena such as the species separation. This study is performed in the ranges of 2.0-4.0 for the geometrical expansion ratio, 200-400 K for the wall temperature, and 0.003-1.454 for the inlet Knudsen number. The effects of these parameters are examined on the separative performances of micronozzle. The direct simulation Monte Carlo method is selected as the solution method because it can provide reliable solutions in the... 

In this study, the supersonic and choked subsonic flows through micro/nano channels are investigated using direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. The supersonic case is simulated at different Knudsen numbers covering slip to transition flow regimes, while the effects of inlet Mach and back pressure are studied in details. The inlet/outlet pressure boundary conditions are suitably implemented benefiting from the basics of characteristics theory. A behavior similar to the one predicted by the Fanno theory is observed here; i.e., the supersonic flow velocity decelerates up to a choking condition where any further increase in Knudsen number is impossible unless strong normal/oblique shocks...