Size and expansion ratio analysis of micro nozzle gas flow

Size and expansion ratio effects on the flowfield are investigated for micro converging-diverging nozzles. Numerical computations are conducted by using two dimensional augmented Burnett equations and Navier-Stokes equations that were derived from the Boltzmann equation. The Maxwell-Smoluchowski slip boundary condition is used for adiabatic walls, and Steger-Warming flux vector splitting scheme is applied to the convective inviscid flux terms. The results from the augmented Burnett equation are compared with Navier-Stokes and Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) results. Then, nozzle-size analysis is conducted for between 2 pm and 100 pm throat width. Influence of the Knudsen number is investigated, and temperature and Mach number variations are presented. In addition, the influence of the expansion ratio is studied with three (1.7:1, 3.41, and 6.8:1) different configurations. The results are compared with each other and an experimental data in the literature. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.