Thermomolecular effect on pressure measurements with orifices in transitional flow

Results are presented of a study carried out in order to verify a version of the method (presented at the 7th International Rarefied Gas Dynamics Symposium) for calculating the influence of thermomolecular flow on the pressures measured by means of orifices in walls exposed to rarefied gases. In these experiments, the 'orifice effect' is examined under conditions that are significantly different from those for which the semiempirical (SE) method of Kinslow and Potter (1971) was shown to be successful. Comparisons between the predicted results with flight data and the results obtained in the laboratory, combined with limited DSMC calculations, indicate that the SE method remains a useful tool which is relatively easy to apply and which gives good results when an appropriate energy accommodation coefficient is used.