Experimental characterization of edge force on the Crookes radiometer

Journal Article · Tue Dec 09 00:00:00 EST 2014 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4902613· OSTI ID:22390563

Ventura, Austin L.; Ketsdever, Andrew D. ^[1]; Gimelshein, Natalia E.; Gimelshein, Sergey F. ^[2]

---

1. University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Colorado Springs, CO 80918 (United States)
2. Gimel, Inc., Montrose, CA 91020 (United States)

The contribution of edge force on the Crookes radiometer is experimentally investigated with three vane geometries. This work examines increasing the force per unit weight of a radiometer vane for applications such as near-space propulsion by increasing the vane’s perimeter while decreasing the total surface area of the vane by means of machined holes in the vanes. Experimental results are given for three vane geometries. These results indicate that although force to vane weight ratios can be improved, the maximum force is achieved by a vane geometry that contains no hole features.

• OSTI ID: 22390563
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1628, Issue 1; Conference: 29. International Symposium on Rarefied Gas Dynamics, Xi'an (China), 13-18 Jul 2014; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
GAS FLOW
GEOMETRY
MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
RADIOMETERS
SURFACE AREA
SURFACE FORCES
VANES