This paper describes the numerical analysis of the flow structure of a single underexpanded argon free jet issuing into a lower-pressure or vacuum environment using the parallel three-dimensional direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method employing dynamic domain decomposition. Unstructured and tetrahedral solution-based refined mesh depending on the local mean free path is used to improve the resolution of solution. Simulated Knudsen numbers of the stagnation conditions based on orifice diameter, Reynolds numbers based on the conditions at the orifice exit, and stagnation-to-background pressure ratios are in the range of 0.0005–0.1, 7–1472, and $5-∞$, respectively, where “$∞$” represents vacuum condition in the background environment. Results show that centerline density decays in a rate proportional to the inverse of the square of the axial distance $(z−2)$ from the orifice for all ranges of flow in the current study. The more rarefied the background condition is, the longer the $z−2$-regime is. In addition, a distinct flow structure, including barrel shock, Mach disk and jet boundary, is clearly identified as the Knudsen number reaches as low as 0.001. Predicted location and size of Mach disk in the near-continuum limit $(Kn=0.001,0.0005)$ are found to be in reasonable agreement with experimental results in the continuum regime.

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