Analysis of accommodation coefficients of noble gases on aluminum surface with an experimental/computational method

A method that connects measurements of radiometric forces on a heated vane in the transitional flow regime with the kinetic modeling of the flow, and derives the accommodation coefficients through the successive analysis of measured and computed results, is proposed. The method utilizes the fact that radiometric forces exerted on heated objects immersed in rarefied gases are governed by the interaction of gas molecules with the surface. Experimental results on radiometric forces on a 0.11 m diameter circular vane are obtained on a nano-Newton thrust stand in a 3 m long vacuum chamber for pressures ranging from approximately 0.01 to 1 Pa. The vane was heated to 419 K on the hot side and 396 K on the cold side. The numerical modeling is conducted using a combined ellipsoidal statistical Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook/direct simulation Monte Carlo approach that allows accurate and time efficient analysis of radiometric forces on a vane in large vacuum chambers filled with rarefied gas. Accommodation coefficients for the Maxwell model are estimated for argon, xenon, and helium on a machined aluminum surface, and found to be 0.81, 0.86, and 0.53, respectively.