Efficient simulation of molecular gas transport for micro- and nanoscale applications

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2011.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Radtke, Gregg Arthur
Other Authors: Nicolas G. Hadjiconstantinou.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67595
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author Radtke, Gregg Arthur
author2 Nicolas G. Hadjiconstantinou.
author_facet Nicolas G. Hadjiconstantinou.
Radtke, Gregg Arthur
author_sort Radtke, Gregg Arthur
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description Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2011.
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spelling mit-1721.1/675952019-04-10T12:17:14Z Efficient simulation of molecular gas transport for micro- and nanoscale applications Radtke, Gregg Arthur Nicolas G. Hadjiconstantinou. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. Mechanical Engineering. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2011. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-129). We describe and validate an efficient method for simulating the Boltzmann transport equation in regimes typically encountered in nanotechnology applications. These transport regimes are characterized by non-vanishing Knudsen numbers, preventing simple analyses based on the Navier-Stokes equations; and also by small departures from equilibrium (low Mach number, small temperature gradients, etc.), which make the traditional particle methods like the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) computationally inefficient. By considering only the deviation from equilibrium, the low-variance particle method introduced herein, simulates molecular gas transport in near-equilibrium regimes with drastically reduced statistical noise compared to the DSMC method. Compared to previous variance reduction methods, the present approach is able to simulate the more general variable-hard-sphere collision model, which more accurately captures the viscosity dependence on the temperature of real gases, compared to the hard sphere and Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook collision models developed previously. The present formulation uses collision algorithms with no inherent time step error, for improved accuracy. Finally, by using a mass-conservative formulation, accurate simulations can be performed in the transition regime requiring as few as ten particles per cell, which is a drastic improvement over previous approaches and enables efficient simulation of multidimensional problems at arbitrarily small deviation from equilibrium. The new methodology is validated and its capabilities are illustrated by solving a number of benchmark problems. It is subsequently used to evaluate the second-order temperature jump coefficient of a dilute hard sphere gas for the first time. by Gregg Arthur Radtke. Ph.D. 2011-12-09T21:29:39Z 2011-12-09T21:29:39Z 2011 2011 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67595 764448156 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 129 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Mechanical Engineering.
Radtke, Gregg Arthur
Efficient simulation of molecular gas transport for micro- and nanoscale applications
title Efficient simulation of molecular gas transport for micro- and nanoscale applications
title_full Efficient simulation of molecular gas transport for micro- and nanoscale applications
title_fullStr Efficient simulation of molecular gas transport for micro- and nanoscale applications
title_full_unstemmed Efficient simulation of molecular gas transport for micro- and nanoscale applications
title_short Efficient simulation of molecular gas transport for micro- and nanoscale applications
title_sort efficient simulation of molecular gas transport for micro and nanoscale applications
topic Mechanical Engineering.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67595
work_keys_str_mv AT radtkegreggarthur efficientsimulationofmoleculargastransportformicroandnanoscaleapplications