2021 Volume 64 Issue 3 Pages 134-139
The study of rarefied gas flows based on kinetic theory of gases is one of the important foundations of vacuum technology. By contrast, “rarefied gas dynamics”, which is specialized for the study of rarefied gas flows, is an established field related to fluid dynamics. However, the knowledge accumulated in rarefied gas dynamics does not seem to have been well utilized in vacuum technology. The present note aims to review some results on fundamental rarefied gas flows, obtained in rarefied gas dynamics, that may be useful for vacuum technology. In addition, the definition of the Maxwell velocity distribution in a manner of rarefied gas dynamics, which differs slightly from that in vacuum technology, is given for reference.
