Computer simulation of slightly rarefied gas flows driven by significant temperature variations and their continuum limit

Abstract: A rigorous asymptotic analysis of the Boltzmann equation for small Knudsen numbers leads, in the general case, to more complicated sets of differential equations than widely used to describe the behavior of gas in terms of classical fluid dynamics. The present paper deals with such one that is valid for significant temperature variations and finite Reynolds numbers at the same time (slow nonisothermal flow equations). A finite-volume solver developed on the open-source CFD platform OpenFOAM is proposed for computer simulation of a slightly rarefied gas in an arbitrary geometry. Typical temperature driven flows are considered as numerical examples. A force acting on uniformly heated bodies is studied as well.