Supersonic motion of bodies in a gas with shock waves

Abstract

The authors consider the problem of supersonic unsteady flow of an inviscid stream containing shock waves round blunt shaped bodies. Various approaches are possible for solving this problem. The parameters in the shock layer on the axis of symmetry have been determined in [1, 2] by using one-dimensional theory. The authors of [3, 4] studied shock wave diffraction on a moving end plane and wedge, respectively, by the through calculation method. This method for studying flow around a wedge with attached shock was also used in [5]. But that study, unlike [4], used self-similar variables, and so was able to obtain a clearer picture of the interaction. The present study gives results of research into the diffraction of a plane shock wave on a body in supersonic motion with the separation of a bow shock. The solution to the problem was based on the grid characteristic method [6], which has been used successfully to solve steady and unsteady problems [7–10]. However a modification of the method was developed in order to improve the calculation of flows with internal discontinuities; this consisted of adopting the velocity of sound and entropy in place of enthalpy and pressure as the unknown thermodynamic parameters. Numerical calculations have shown how effective this procedure is in solving the present problem. The results are given for flow round bodies with spherical and flat (end plane) ends for various different values of the velocities of the bodies and the shock waves intersected by them. The collision and overtaking interactions are considered, and there is a comparison with the experimental data.