A Uniform Hybrid Monte Carlo Method for Simulation of Rarefied Material Dynamics

The proposed innovation consists of a new analytic and computational method for rarefied gas dynamics (RGD). The prevalent computational method for RGD is the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. DSMC becomes computationally intractable in thenear-continuum regime, which is a significant limitation on its capability for materials processing applications. The new method is an interpolated fluid/Monte Carlo (IFMC) method that will accelerate DSMC in the near-continuum regime, removing thislimitation. The IFMC method is an improvement over existing acceleration methods for RGD in that it is a single uniform method, valid for the full range of Knudsen numbers, with the correct asymptotic behavior in the continuum and near-continuum regimes. This innovation will provide a greatly accelerated and more robust computational tool for simulation of materials processing and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), and will be of significant commercial value for the electronics and aerospaceindustries.