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Problem 1.
A shock wave across which the pressure ratio is 1.15 moves down a duct into
still air at a pressure of 50 kPa and a temperature of 30◦ C.
a) Find the temperature and velocity of the air behind the shock.
b) If instead of being at rest, the air ahead of the shock is moving towards
the wave at 100 m/s, what is the velocity of the air behind the shock
wave?
Solution
As shown in Fig. 1, a moving shock problem can be analyzed by constructing
its stationary shock counterpart. Note that the shock is moving from right
to left. Therefore, x subscripts denote values upstream of the shock and y
subscripts denote values downstream of the shock. We also denote values in
the laboratory frame of reference by a prime to distinguish them from values
in the reference frame attached to the shock (as in the Fluids II Notes).
It is also to be noted that the left sketch in Fig. 1 corresponds to both
questions, (a) and (b). The only difference is that for question (a) Vx0 = 0.
In general, velocities Vx0 and Vy0 may be positive or negative. A negative
value would simply mean that the actual flow direction is opposite to that
indicated by arrow.
In part (a), we have in the frame of reference attached to the shock:
Vx = Vx0 + Vs0 = 0 + Vs0 = Vs0 (1)
Vy = Vy0 + Vs0 (2)
py /px = p0y /p0x = 1.15 (3)
Using this pressure ratio, from the normal shock table we obtain : Mx =
1.062, My = 0.943, Ty /Tx = 1.041. Note that changing the frame of reference
does not change the static temperatures and pressures. Thus, we obtain:
Ty = Ty /Tx × Tx = 1.041 × (273 + 30) = 315.4[K] (4)
The shock speed can be determined from
p √
Vs0 = Vx − Vx0 = Mx γRTx − 0 = 1.062 × 1.4 × 287 × 303 = 370.6 [m/s]
(5)
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Figure 1: Moving shock and its stationary counterpart.
Thus
p √
Vy0 = Vy −Vs0 = My × γRTy −370.6 = 0.943× 1.4 × 287 × 315.4−370.6 = −35.1[m/s]
(6)
The negative sign shows that the downstream flow is from right to left (which
is expected since the gas in front (upstream) of the shock was at rest and
brought into motion by the shock).
In part (b), Vx0 = 100 [m/s]. The solution method is the same. The final
result will be Vy0 = 64.9 [m/s]. Thus, in this case the flow remains from left
to right. The shock just slows it down.
Note that the part (a) of the problem can be solved directly, by using
the formula for the shock wave moving into the gas at rest, without any
transformations of the frame of reference. The above way of solution is
chosen for consistency with question (b).
Problem 2
Air is flowing out of a duct at 250 m/s with a temperature of 0◦ C and a
pressure of 70 kPa. A valve at the end of the duct is suddenly closed. Find
the pressure acting on the valve after the valve closure.
Solution
The closure of the valve will create a shock wave which will propagate up-
stream. The flow velocity downstream of the shock will be equal to zero (i.e.
Vy0 = 0 m/s). This problem can be solved either by an iterative method or a
direct method.
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Iterative method: If we change the frame of reference from the labo-
ratory one to the frame attached to the shock, we will obtain an equivalent
stationary shock problem. In this case:
Vx = Vx0 + Vs0 (7)
Vy = Vy0 + Vs0 = Vs0 (8)
Vy V0
My = = s (9)
cy cy
0 0
V + Vs cy
Mx = x = Mx0 + My (10)
cx cx
where
Vx0 250
Mx0 = =√ = 0.755 (11)
cx 1.4 × 287 × 273
So, at the end we have a closed system of nonlinear equations:
cy
Mx = My + 0.755 (12)
cx
My = f (Mx ) (13)
r
cy Ty
= = g(Mx ) (14)
cx Tx
The last two equations are based on the normal shock relations (or Tables).
This system can be solved through a trial and error procedure:
Step 1. Guess a value for Mx
Ty
Step 2. Using the normal shock table, find My , Tx
q
Step 3. ccxy = TTxy
Figure 2: Shockwave created due to exit closure.
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Step 4. Calculate a new value value for Mx from eq. (12)
Step 5. If the solution is not converged, go back to Step 2.
Once the values for Mx have converged, the pressure ratio across the shock
can be determined from the normal shock table. After some iterations, we
obtain Mx = 1.55 and py /px = 2.636.
Direct method: The problem can be solved easier if the new frame of
reference is attached to the incoming flow (not to the shock). In this case,
the problem will be reduced to the shock motion into a quiescent gas. Let
us denote velocities in this new frame of reference with two primes:
Vx00 = 0 [m/s] (15)
Vy00 = Vy − Vx0 = −250 [m/s] (16)
Vs00 = Vs0 + Vx0 (17)
Vs00
Ms = (18)
cx
(19)
The last equation is from one of the definitions of shock Mach number.
Velocity Vy00 is the velocity of the flow behind the shock moving into a
quiescent gas, i.e., following the notations in the Notes: |Vy00 | = Vp0 = 250 m/s.
The shock Mach number is related to Vp0 as follows (see the Notes):
sµ
¶2
1 γ + 1 Vp0 γ+1 Vp0
Ms = + + 4 (20)
2 2 cx 2 cx
From here we obtain Ms = 1.55 and hence the corresponding pressure ratio
will be equal to py /px = 2.636 (from the normal shock table). This is the
same solution as obtained from the iterative procedure.
Thus,
py = 2.636 × 70kP a = 184.5 [kP a]. (21)