Slightly Rarefied Gas Flow over a Body with Small Accommodation Coefficient

Abstract

The asymptotic behavior (for small Knudsen number) of the steady flow of a rarefied gas over a body with a small accommodation coefficient (of the order of the Knudsen number) is investigated on the basis of the Boltzmann-Krook-Welander equation and the Maxwell-type boundary condition. It is shown that the present results provide a bridge between the cases of zero accommodation coefficient (specular reflection) and of finite one. As applications of the theory, a sphere with constant temperature in a uniform flow of gas and that in a gas at rest with a uniform temperature gradient are considered.