ME 362

Compressible Flow with Shock Wave

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Pressure Distribution Along a Converging-Diverging Duct:

Po

Pexit

Pback

P/Po
1
P*/Po

C
A
D
E
F
B
G

Subsonic
Sonic

Supersonic

throat

Shock

shock

exit

Depends on the back pressure (Pback), we will have one of the following curves:
Curve A:

isentropic subsonic flow

Curve B:

isentropic supersonic flow

Curve C:

isentropic subsonic flow (Athroat A*)

Curve D:

normal shock within the nozzle

Curve E:

normal shock at the nozzle exit

Curve F:

2D oblique shock outside nozzle

(Pexit < Pback)

Curve G:

2D expansion wave outside nozzle

(Pexit > Pback)

Pexit = Pback

ME 362

Compressible Flow with Shock Wave

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Normal Shock Wave:

Curves A and E are two reference curves used to determine if a normal shock
wave occurs within the duct

If PE,exit < Pback < PA,exit (identified by curve D)

exists within the duct

a normal shock wave

subsonic
A

P/Po

D
E
supersonic
throat

exit

Curve D:
isentropic

Subscript:

sonic

D
1 2
supersonic
xthroat

subsonic

1 just before shock

2 just after shock

shock
xshock

Subsonic sonic supersonic normal shock subsonic

Before and after shock (isentropic):

In the vicinity of shock (nonisentropic): use shock table (Table B.2)

Across shock: Po1 Po2

A1* A2*

use isentropic table (Table B.1)

ME 362

Compressible Flow with Shock Wave

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Iterative Procedure for Locating Normal Shock Wave:

Step 1: Before shock (isentropic, supersonic)

Guess xshock and find Ashock:

xshock

Ashock = A(x = xshock)

Find A1/A* and get Ma1 (>1) from isentropic table for supersonic flow:
A A1 Athroat

A1 Ashock

From isentropic table (Table B.1):

at

A1
(supersonic)
A

Ma1

Step 2: Across shock (nonisentropic)

Use Ma1 to find Po2/Po1 and A2*/A1* from shock table:

From shock table (Table B.2):

at Ma1

Po 2
Po1

(Po1 = Po)

A2
A1

(A1* = Athroat)

Step 3: After shock (isentropic, subsonic)

Find Aexit/A2* and get Pexit/Po2 from isentropic table for subsonic flow:
From isentropic table (Table B.1):

Step 4: Repeat all steps until Pexit = Pback:

Aexit
(subsonic)
A2

Pexit
Po 2

Find Pexit:
Pexit
P
P P
exit exit o 2
Po
Po1
Po 2 Po1

at

Pexit > Pback

Pback/Po

Pexit = Pback

sonic

Pexit < Pback

If Pexit > Pback: increase xshock

If Pexit < Pback: decrease xshock
xthroat

xshock

xexit

Pback

ME 362

Compressible Flow with Shock Wave

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Example:
A(x)

Given a converging-diverging duct where:

0.05 x
A( x ) 0.002 1

0.05

0 x 0.1 m

To, Po

Pback

To = 500K, Po = 1000 kPa, k = 1.4 and R = 287 J/(kg*K).

a) If Pback = 650 kPa, show that a normal shock wave exists within the duct.
b) An iterative procedure is required to locate the shock position. If the initial guess of
shock position is at x = 0.075m, perform one iteration and find the corresponding
pressure at exit.
c) Based on the above result, is the correct shock position upstream or downstream of
x = 0.075 m?