Pressure-driven gas flows in micro channels with a slip boundary: A numerical investigation

Abstract

In this paper, flow of slightly rarefied compressible nitrogen in microchannels has been investigated numerically for low values of Reynolds and Mach numbers. The 2D governing equations were solved using Finite Element Method with first-order slip boundary conditions (Comsol Multiphysics software). A validation was performed by comparing with similar configuration from the literature. It was found that our model can accurately predict the pressure driven flow in microchannels. Several interesting findings are reported about the Relative pressure, longitudinal velocity, Mach number, effect of gas rarefaction and flow rate.