Nonlinear Couette flow in a dilute gas: Comparison between theory and molecular-dynamics simulation

摘要

Nonlinear transport properties of a d-dimensional dilute gas subjected to a planar Couette flow are determined. The results are obtained from a kinetic model that accounts for the correct value of the Prandtl number. The solution is characterized by constant pressure and linear velocity and parabolic temperature profiles with respect to a scaled variable. The main transport coefficients are explicitly obtained as nonlinear functions of the reduced shear rate. A comparison with recent molecular-dynamics simulations of a bidimensional gas of hard disks [D. Risso and P. Cordero, Phys. Rev. E 56, 489 (1997)] is carried out. Such a comparison shows that our results are in better agreement with the computer simulations than those previously derived from other approximations, especially in the case of the thermal conductivity tensor. [References: 14]