Effect of Surface Roughness on Nitrogen Flow in a Microchannel Using the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method

Abstract

The paper presents direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) results for nitrogen flow in a microchannel with surface roughness modeled by an array of rectangular modules placed on one side of a parallel-plate channel. The effects of relative surface roughness, roughness distribution, and gas rarefaction on flow are investigated and the results are presented in the form of the product of friction factor and Reynolds number. It was found that the effect of surface roughness is more pronounced at low Knudsen numbers. At high Knudsen numbers, rarefaction reduces the interaction between the gas molecules and the channel walls and results in a lower friction factor. The roughness distribution represented by the ratio of the roughness height to spacing of the modules has a significant effect on the flow and friction factor. Finally, the locally fully developed (LFD) flow model can be used to predict gas flow in a microchannel with low values of relative surface roughness.