# Effects of the Wall Temperature on Rarefied Gas Flows and Heat Transfer in a Micro-Nozzle

## TL;DR

This paper studies how wall temperature affects gas flow and heat transfer in a micro-nozzle used in satellite thrusters.

## Contribution

The study reveals how wall temperature influences rarefied gas flow patterns and heat transfer in micro-nozzles with multiscale characteristics.

## Key findings

- Higher wall temperatures reduce the temperature drop ratio in low-temperature regions of the micro-nozzle.
- Slip flow transitions to transition flow when slip velocity reaches approximately 50 m/s.
- Wall temperature significantly affects the spatial distribution of flow patterns at small needle valve openings.

## Abstract

When the satellite is in orbit, the thruster will experience drastic temperature changes (100–1000 K) under solar radiation, which will affect the rarefied gas flow state in the micro-nozzle structure of the cold gas micro-thruster. In this study, the effect of different wall temperatures on the rarefied flow and heat transfer in the micro-nozzle is investigated based on the DSMC method. The micro-nozzle structure in this paper has a micro-channel with a large length-to-diameter ratio of 10 and a micro-scale needle valve displacement (maximum needle valve displacement up to 4 μm). This leads to more pronounced multiscale flow characteristics in the micro-nozzle, which is more influenced by the change in wall temperature. At wall temperatures ranging from 100 K to 1000 K, the spatial distribution of local Kn distribution, slip velocity distribution, temperature, and wall heat flux distribution in the micro-nozzle were calculated. The slip flow region is located in the flow channel and transforms into transition flow as the slip velocity reaches approximately 50 m/s. The spatial distribution of the flow pattern is dominated by the wall temperature at small needle valve opening ratios. The higher the wall temperature, the smaller the temperature drop ratio in the low-temperature region inside the micro-nozzle. The results of the study provide a reference for the design of temperature control of micro-nozzles in cold gas micro-thrusters.