Experimental Investigation of Microscale Effects in Perforated Plate Aerodynamics

This paper contains an extensive analysis of the flow in microholes based on an experimental investigation. Experiments of the gas flow past a perforated plate with microholes (110μm) were carried out. A wide range of pressure differences between the inlet and the outlet were investigated for that purpose. Two distinguishable flow regimes were obtained: the laminar flow with the slip effects and the turbulence transition regime for a very low Reynolds number. The results are in good agreement with the theory, simulations, experiments for large scale perforated plates, and compressible flows in microtubes. The relation between the mass flow rate and the Knudsen, Reynolds, and Mach numbers for the laminar and transitional regime was obtained. It is a quadratic function of the Reynolds and Knudsen numbers (ReKn) based on the hole's diameter. The value of the first order tangential momentum accommodation coefficient was estimated. It shows a strong relation to the inlet Knudsen number.