Momentum and mass fluxes in a gas confined between periodically structured surfaces at different temperatures

Abstract

It is well known that in a gas-filled duct or channel along which a temperature gradient is applied, a thermal creep flow is created. Here we show that a mass and momentum flux can also be induced in a gas confined between two parallel structured surfaces at different temperatures, i.e., orthogonal to the temperature gradient. We use both analytical and numerical methods to compute the resulting fluxes. The momentum flux assumes its maximum value in the free-molecular flow regime, the (normalized) mass flux in the transition flow regime. The discovered phenomena could find applications in methods for energy-conversion and thermal pumping of gases.