Multiroll structure induced by Maxwell's thermal creep (Q2706065)

This interesting paper is devoted to the so-called thermal creep, which is a steady streaming motion, induced by a temperature gradient parallel to a fluid boundary, in the absence of gravity. Thermal creep has been studied by Maxwell using ideas from the kinetic theory, and analyzed by \textit{E. H. Kennard} [Kinetic theory, MacGraw-Hill, New York (1938)] and \textit{Y. Sone} [Phys. Fluids A 3, 997 ff (1991)], and simulated by \textit{J. Ibsen, R. Soto} and \textit{P. Cordero} [Phys. Rev. E 52, 4533 ff (1995)]. Here the authors consider several two-dimensional simulations. It is shown that the boundary driven flow can exhibit four or more roll structures, which is induced by the basic two-roll structure. Hence, the velocity of flow decreases exponentially from the driving wall. It may be difficult to see more than six rolls.