Light-induced stationary gas flows

A new effect is described: macroscopic flows occur under specific conditions along the walls of a cuvette in gas excited resonantly with a plane light wave from the ground state. The effect is the result of the light-induced energy redistribution between the translational degrees of freedom.     

Application of PSP to low density gas flows

Recently optical pressure measurement systems using pressure sensitive paints (PSP) have actively developed to measure continuous pressure distributions on solid surfaces. However, the pressure range has been almost limited above 130 Pa (about 1 Torr) and there is no application to lower pressure range because the pressure sensitivity seems to be not so high in that range. In this study, we have applied three types of PSP [two types are composed by organic dye and polymer (luminophore/binder); PtOEP/GP197 and PtTFPP/poly(TMSP), and another one is Bath-Ru adsorbed on anodized aluminum] to the rarefied gas flow mainly lower than 130 Pa and examine those fundamental properties such as pressure sensitivity, leading to selection of the most suitable PSP among them for the low-pressure range. Since PtTFPP/poly(TMSP) has the highest sensitivity, it is applied successfully to the measurement of the two-dimensional pressure distribution on the surface interacting with a low density supersonic free jet.     

Sound amplification in inhomogeneous flows of nonequilibrium gas

The conditions of the acoustic instability of flows of thermodynamically nonequilibrium gas are determined. It is shown that the growth increments of the velocity, temperature, pressure, and density disturbances are different. When the Mach numbers are small, only the velocity and temperature disturbances grow along the flow.     

Integrable geodesic flows and super polytropic gas equations

The polytropic gas equations are shown to be the geodesic flows with respect to an L² metric on the semidirect product space Diff(S¹)C^∞(S¹), where Diff(S¹) is the group of orientation preserving diffeomorphisms of the circle. We also show that the N=1 supersymmetric polytropic gas equation constitute an integrable geodesic flow on the extended Neveu–Schwarz space. Recently other kinds of supersymmetrizations have been studied vigorously in connection with superstring theory and are called supersymmetric-B (SUSY-B) extension. In this paper we also show that the SUSY-B extension of the polytropic gas equation form a geodesic flow on the extension of the Neveu–Schwarz space.     

Effect of gas flows on fullerene formation process

The effect of helium flow on the fullerene formation process is studied. It has been shown that an annular flow of helium directed into the fullerene formation zone along the discharge axis reduces the content of fullerenes in soot. If the velocity of the additional flow of helium pumped through a hole in the cathode becomes close to that of the gas-plasma jet, practically no fullerenes are formed.     

Observations of an ion-driven instability in non-neutral plasmas confined on magnetic surfaces

The first detailed experimental study of an instability driven by the presence of a finite ion fraction in an electron-rich non-neutral plasma confined on magnetic surfaces is presented. The instability has a poloidal mode number m=1, implying that the parallel force balance of the electron fluid is broken and that the instability involves rotation of the entire plasma, equivalent to ion-resonant instabilities in Penning traps and toroidal field traps. The mode appears when the ion density exceeds approximately 10% of the electron density. The measured frequency decreases with increasing magnetic field strength, and increases with increasing radial electric field, showing that the instability is linked to the E x B flow of the electron plasma. The frequency does not, however, scale exactly with E/B, and it depends on the ion species that is introduced, implying that the instability consists of interacting perturbations of ions and electrons.     

Quasi-gasdynamic equations for gas flows with external heat sources

A system of quasi-gasdynamic equations for gas flows with external forces and heat sources is constructed. An entropy balance equation is derived that demonstrates the dissipative nature of the additional terms appearing in the system.     

Subsonic non-steady-state gas flows in channels with inner cavities

A set of gasdynamic equations is given in the general form for matter with an arbitrary equation of state in the case when the entropy equation is used instead of the energy equation. In the ideal gas approximation in view of viscosity, a numerical investigation is performed of non-steady-state two-dimensional flows in a channel with a cavity. The calculation results have demonstrated that, given the flow velocity and the geometry of channel and cavity, pressure pulsations arise that are due to the departure of vortices from the cavity into the main flow. The values of the amplitude and frequency of pressure pulsations are determined. If measures are taken aimed at limiting the departure of vortices from the cavity, for example, a baffle is installed to restrict the interaction between the main flow and gas in the cavity, one can considerably increase the flow velocity in the channel, unaffected by the cavity. Such non-steady-state flows may be realized in MHD-generator channels, resonators of gas flow lasers, gas ducts for ventilation and gas transport systems, mufflers, whistles, etc.     

Engineering physical model of gas flows in a medium vacuum

The development of techniques for simulating gas flows in vacuum units in going from the molecular to viscous flow is hampered by the lack of adequate physical concepts of a medium vacuum. We offer an engineering physical model to simulate gas flows in vacuum units. Based on this model, a probabilistic method of simulation is worked out, and the gas flows in the molecular-viscous regime are evaluated. The paradox observed in the molecular-viscous regime is accounted for. The model is verified by experiments.     

Two-dimensional gas flows under heterogeneous combustion of solid porous media

Two-dimensional unsteady gas flows in porous media with heterogeneous-combustion centers are investigated under forced filtration and free convection. With the use of numerical methods, it is shown that complex gas flows including vortex ones can arise under the combustion of solid porous media. In the case of forced filtration, the gas tends to flow around the heated portion of an object preferring to flow along cold regions. Under natural convection, the vortex gas flows, which can exist for a reasonably long time and strongly affect the oxidizer inflow into the reaction zone, arise at the initial moment of the process in the combustion zone and in its vicinities.     

Modified relaxation time Monte Carlo method for continuum-transition gas flows

Gas flows in the continuum-transition regime often occur in micro-electro-mechanical systems. The relaxation time Monte Carlo (RTMC) method was modified by using an ellipsoid statistical model and a multiple translational temperature model in the BGK model equation to simulate continuum-transition gas flows. The modified RTMC method uses a simplified form of the generalized relaxation time, which is related to the macro velocity and the local Knudsen number. The results for Couette flow and Poiseuille flow in microchannels predicted using the modified RTMC and the DSMC are in good agreement with the modified RTMC being much faster than the DSMC for continuum-transition gas flow simulations.     

A continuum model of gas flows with localized density variations

We discuss the kinetic representation of gases and the derivation of macroscopic equations governing the thermomechanical behavior of a dilute gas viewed at the macroscopic level as a continuous medium. We introduce an approach to kinetic theory where spatial distributions of the molecules are incorporated through a mean-free-volume argument. The new kinetic equation derived contains an extra term involving the evolution of this volume, which we attribute to changes in the thermodynamic properties of the medium. Our kinetic equation leads to a macroscopic set of continuum equations in which the gradients of thermodynamic properties, in particular density gradients, impact on diffusive fluxes. New transport terms bearing both convective and diffusive natures arise and are interpreted as purely macroscopic expansion or compression. Our new model is useful for describing gas flows that display non-local-thermodynamic-equilibrium (rarefied gas flows), flows with relatively large variations of macroscopic properties, and/or highly compressible fluid flows.