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Extreme temperatures in shock-wave interactions with rarefaction waves

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2006

G. A. Bird
Affiliation:
Department of Aeronautical Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Abstract

The method of characteristics is used to calculate numerical solutions for the head-on collision of a shock wave with a centred rarefaction wave in the onedimensional unsteady flow of a perfect gas. It is found that, for sufficiently strong shock waves, the rate of increase in the strength of the shock as it propagates through the rarefaction is so great that the temperature behind the shock reaches extreme values.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1963 Cambridge University Press

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References

Bird, G. A. 1961 J. Fluid Mech. 11, 180.
Courant, R. & Friedrichs, K. O. 1948 Supersonic Flow and Shock Waves. New York: Interscience.
Gould, D. G. 1952 Inst. of Aerophysics, UTIA Rep. no. 17.
Greenspan, H. P. & Butler, D. S. 1962 J. Fluid Mech. 13, 101.
Rosciszewski, J. 1960 J. Fluid Mech. 8, 337.
Whitham, G. B. 1958 J. Fluid Mech. 4, 337.