Slow uniform flow of a rarefied gas past an infinitely thin circular disk

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Tomita, Takuma, Taguchi, Satoshi, Tsuji, Tetsuro
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Tomita, Takuma
Taguchi, Satoshi
Tsuji, Tetsuro
author_facet Tomita, Takuma
Taguchi, Satoshi
Tsuji, Tetsuro
contents The classical problem of steady rarefied gas flow past an infinitely thin circular disk is revisited, with particular emphasis on the gas behavior near the disk edge. The uniform flow is assumed to be perpendicular to the disk surface. An integral equation for the velocity distribution function, derived from the linearized Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) model of the Boltzmann equation and subject to diffuse reflection boundary conditions, is solved numerically. The numerical method fully accounts for the discontinuity in the velocity distribution function that arises due to the presence of the edge. It is found that a kinetic boundary layer forms near the disk edge, extending over several mean free paths, and that its magnitude scales as $\mathrm{Kn}^{1/2}$ as the Knudsen number $\mathrm{Kn}$ (defined with respect to the disk radius) tends to zero. A thermal polarization effect, previously studied for spherical geometries, is also observed in the disk case, with a more pronounced manifestation near the edge that exhibits the same $\mathrm{Kn}^{1/2}$ scaling. The drag force acting on the disk is computed over a wide range of Knudsen numbers and shows good agreement with existing results for a hard-sphere gas and in the near-free-molecular regime.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_13493
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Slow uniform flow of a rarefied gas past an infinitely thin circular disk
Tomita, Takuma
Taguchi, Satoshi
Tsuji, Tetsuro
Fluid Dynamics
The classical problem of steady rarefied gas flow past an infinitely thin circular disk is revisited, with particular emphasis on the gas behavior near the disk edge. The uniform flow is assumed to be perpendicular to the disk surface. An integral equation for the velocity distribution function, derived from the linearized Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) model of the Boltzmann equation and subject to diffuse reflection boundary conditions, is solved numerically. The numerical method fully accounts for the discontinuity in the velocity distribution function that arises due to the presence of the edge. It is found that a kinetic boundary layer forms near the disk edge, extending over several mean free paths, and that its magnitude scales as $\mathrm{Kn}^{1/2}$ as the Knudsen number $\mathrm{Kn}$ (defined with respect to the disk radius) tends to zero. A thermal polarization effect, previously studied for spherical geometries, is also observed in the disk case, with a more pronounced manifestation near the edge that exhibits the same $\mathrm{Kn}^{1/2}$ scaling. The drag force acting on the disk is computed over a wide range of Knudsen numbers and shows good agreement with existing results for a hard-sphere gas and in the near-free-molecular regime.
title Slow uniform flow of a rarefied gas past an infinitely thin circular disk
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.13493