Measurement of Heat Transfer from Anodic Oxide Film on Aluminum in High Knudsen Number Flows

The heat transfer in vacuum depends on the gas–surface interaction. In this study, the heat flux from anodic oxide films on aluminum with different anodizing times through a gas confined between two surfaces with different temperatures was studied. We prepared a non-treated surface, a surface with a normal anodizing time of 30 min, and a surface with 90 min, where the formed film would partially dissolve by long time exposure to the solution. The formation of the films was checked by electrical resistance. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images were obtained for the three sample surfaces. Even though it was difficult to observe the hexagonal cylindrical cell structures on anodic oxide films, the 30 min sample surface was shown to be rough, and it was relatively smooth and powdery for the 90 min sample surface. The heat fluxes from three sample surfaces were measured from the free-molecular to near free-molecular flow regimes, and analyzed to obtain the energy accommodation coefficients. The heat fluxes were well fitted by the fitting curves. The energy accommodation coefficients for both helium and argon increased by anodizing an aluminum sample surface, while they decreased with increasing the anodizing time up to 90 min indicating the dissolution of the film.