Modified gas-kinetic scheme for shock structures in argon (Q929235)

Summary: The gas-kinetic scheme (GKS) is a finite-volume method in which the fluxes are constructed from the single particle velocity distribution function \(f\). The distribution function \(f\) is obtained from the linearised Boltzmann equation and is retained only to the Navier-Stokes order in terms of the Chapman-Enskog expansion. Higher order non-equilibrium effects are included in a variable local particle collision time depending on local gradients of the hydrodynamic variables up to second order. The fluxes so constructed possess the non-equilibrium information beyond the linear constitutive relations and Fourier law. The modified gas-kinetic scheme with a local particle collision time \(\lambda ^*\) depending on the gradients of hydrodynamic variables is used to compute shock structures in argon for Mach numbers between 1.2 and 25.0. We validate our results with existing numerical and experimental ones. Our results show that the modified gas-kinetic scheme is effective and efficient for shock structure calculations.