On the motion of slightly rarefied gas induced by a discontinuous surface temperature

The motion of a slightly rarefied gas in a long straight two-dimensional channel caused by a discontinuous surface temperature is investigated on the basis of kinetic theory with a special interest in the fluid-dynamic description. More precisely, the channel is longitudinally divided into two parts and each part is kept at a uniform temperature different from each other, so that the surface temperature of the whole channel has a jump discontinuity at the junction. Under the assumption that the amount of jump in the surface temperature is small, the steady behaviour of the gas induced in the channel is studied on the basis of the linearized Boltzmann equation and the diffuse reflection boundary condition in the case where the Knudsen number, defined by the ratio of the molecular mean free path and the width of the channel, is small. Using a matched asymptotic expansion method combined with Sone’s asymptotics, a Stokes system describing the overall macroscopic behaviour of the gas inside the channel is derived, with a new feature of the ‘slip boundary condition’ for the flow velocity due to the jump discontinuity in the surface temperature of the channel. This condition takes the form of a diverging singularity with source and sink located at the point of discontinuity, with a multiplicative factor determined through the analysis of a spatially two-dimensional Knudsen-layer (or a Knudsen-zone) problem. Some numerical demonstrations based on the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook equation are also presented.