Analysis of Numerical Errors in the DSMC Method

Abstract. The direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is one of the most popular numerical methods used to model rarefied gas environment flows. In order to predict the accuracy of a solution obtained by the DSMC method we have to be able to estimate its accuracy. In the work presented here we have developed a technique to estimate the numerical accuracy of the DSMC method. This paper presents a derivation of expressions of the variance of the DSMC estimators of number density and translational temperature, and the corresponding comparison with the empirical variance. A discussion of the deterministic numerical errors corresponding to typical DSMC parameters such as the time step, cell volume, and total number of simulated particles is given. Moreover, a comparison of two different DSMC schemes, No Time Counter (NTC) and Majorant Frequency (MF), is made