Transport processes in dilute gases over the whole range of Knudsen numbers. Part 1. General theory

Abstract

The mean-free-path approach to kinetic theory, initiated by Maxwell, and largely abandoned after the Chapman-Enskog success with Boltzmann's equation, is revised and considerably extended in order to find expressions for the heat flux vector q and pressure tensor p, valid (it is hoped) for all Knudsen numbers, K. These expressions (equations (2.24) and (2.26)) are integrals taken over the whole volume of the fluid plus surface integrals taken over the solid boundaries. The one phenomenological element is the mean free path λ, which takes different values according to whether it is mass, momentum or energy that is transported by the molecules. The need for such an approach is evidenced by the existence of critical values of K, above which the Chapman-Enskog expansion in powers of K, truncated after a finite number of terms, fails to yield a solution. For example with the Burnett equations, which are correct to O(K²), the critical K in a shock wave is only 0·2 based upon the upstream λ.