26 research outputs found

    Experimental and Computational Study of Area and Perimeter Contributions to Radiometer Forces

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    The relative contribution to the radiometric force of the area and perimeter of the vane is studied experimentally and numerically. Experimentally, a circular vane, a low-aspect rectangular vane, and a high-aspect rectangular vane were all tested on a force balance, with nano-Newton resolution, placed in a stagnant gas. The computational results were obtained through 2-D simulations using the direct simulation Monte Carlo method, as well as a discrete ordinate solution of the ES model kinetic equation. Gas pressure was varied from 0.006 to 6 Pa, which was a broad enough range to observe the characteristic peak force production of a radiometer in the transition regime, where the peak occurs at Kn ~ 0.1. It was found that the area of a radiometer vane is responsible for a significant amount ofthe total force production through a wide range of operating pressures. It is only at the highest background pressures, well after force production has peaked, that the vane perimeter appears to dominate the operation of the radiometer

    Area and edge effects in radiometric forces

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    The radiometric force on several configurations of heated plates placed in a stagnant gas is examined experimentally, with a high-resolution thrust stand, and numerically using the direct simulation Monte Carlo method and a discrete ordinate solution of a model kinetic equation. A wide range of pressure from 0.006 to 6 Pa was examined, corresponding to Knudsen numbers from 20 to 0.02, in argon and helium test gases. The radiometric force, important in a number of emerging micro- and nanoscale applications, is shown to be mostly area dependent in the transitional regime where it reaches its maximum at Kn~0.1
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