23.

1 Comparison of Shock Wave and Mach Wave

Consider a supersonic flow over a wedge as shown in Fig. 23.1. This wedge makes an angle with
the upstream or freestream flow.

Fig. 23.1 Supersonic flow over wedge

The shock originated from the corner of the wedge makes an angle shock angle β with the upstream
or freestream flow. We have already seen that the components of velocity upstream of the shock
can be expressed as

where, u1, v1 are components of upstream velocity in the direction normal and parallel to the shock.
Hence we can express the shock angle as,

23.1

Consider a Mach wave oriniating from any point A upstream of the shock. For this Mach wave we
have,

23.2

where µ1 is the angle made by the Mach wave with the local velocity vector. Comparing equation
(23.1) and (23.2) we get, β > µ1 since µ1 > a1 (component of upstream velocity normal to the shock
is always supersonic). This expression also portrays that shock angle is always greater than the
Mach angle or angle made by the Mach line.
23.2 Proof for the interaction of shocks of same family.

Initially we will prove that two shocks of same family intersect each other if they are originated from
the same double wedge conifiguration. Therefore consider the same situation as displayed by
the Fig. 23.1.

Lets express the post shock conditions as,

Hence,

23.3

Consider a Mach wave oriniating from any point B downstram of the shock. For this Mach wave we
have,

23.4

where, u2, v2 are components of downstream velcoity in the direction normal and parallel to the
shock and µ2 is the angle made by the Mach line with the local velocity vector which is presently the
slant face of wedges.Comparing equations (23.3) and (23.4) we can see that (β - θ) < µ2 since it
has been already proved that the compenent of downstream velocity normal to the shock is
subsonic, hence µ2 < a2. Therefore both (upstream and downstream) Mach lines or waves intersect
with the shock. Now cosider the supersonic flow over double wedge as shown in Fig. 23.2. In this
way we can prove that the two shock originating from two corners of wedges given in Fig.
23.2should intersect with each other. The main reason behind this interaction is that the
downstream Mach line intersects with the first shock. It is also known to us that the shock angle is
always greater than the local Mach angle, therefore the next shock angle will be necessarily greater
than µ2. This logical derivation proves the fact that two shock of same family should intersect with
each other for the double wedge configuration.

Fig. 23.2. Shock-Shock interafction for same family shocks

23.3 Interaction of shocks of same family

Consider a supersonic flow over a double wedge as shown in Fig. 23.2. Lets understand the
flowfield in the presence of this S/S interaction for same family shocks (left running) originating from
the corners of the same wedge. This double wedge under consideration initially makes an angle
θ1 with freestream velocity vector and then θ2 with the same. For this shock interaction studies, it is
mandetory to have θ1 < θ2. However if θ1 > θ2 then there will not be any inward deflection of the
flow after passing through the first shock originating from the first corner which intern avoids the
apperance of the second shock originating from the second corner. Consider two streamlines viz.
ABCD and PQ in the flow. Streamline ABCD initally gets deflected by and angel θ1 in the presence of
first left running shock which makes the flow parallel to the first wedge at region B. The same
streamline gets further delfected by an angle equal to θ2 - θ1 due to the shock at the second corner
which makes the flow parallel to the second wedge in the region C. Therfore after passing through
two left running shocks, streamline ABC acquires a deflection equal to θ2 in the region C. Now
consider the streamline PQ which passes through only single left running shock which has been
originated from the point of interaction of two left running shocks. Therefore the deflection incurred
by the streamline PQ in the region Q may or may not be equal to θ2 acquired by streamline ABCD in
region C. In turn streamlines ABCD and PQ might not be parallel to each other downstream of the
interaction point. Therefore to avoid this condition and streamline crossing, a wave (shock or
expansion) originates from the interaction point through which the stream line ABCD passes and the
onwards attains the same deflection as that of streamline PQ. Possibility of shock or expansion wave
depends on the downstream pressures. However a slipline necessarily originates from the
interaction point to seperate the two parts of flow of different entropies keeping their direction of
velocity and pressure same.

22.1 Shock-Shock Interaction

Interaction of two shocks is of great interest for various reasons. The major reason is the prediction
of the flow field after interaction. This flowfield is greately dependant on the the family of the shock
(right running or left running) and strength of the shocks in turn freestream properties.
Aerodynamics of the body higly dependant on the shock-shock (S/S) interation. Edney* has defined
six types of shock shock interactions based on family and strength of the interacting shocks and post
shock flowfield. Herewith, basics of the shock shock interation are mentioned.

* B. Edney, Anomalous heat transfer and pressure distributions on blunt bodies at hypersonic
speeds in the presence of an impinging shock, Aeronautical Research Institute of Sweden, Report
115, Stockholm (1968).

22.2 Ineraction of shocks of differet family

Lets consider the situation given in Fig.22.1 to understand the S/S interaction for shocks from two
different families.
 Fig, 22.1. Typical example of S/S interaction of shocks of different families and same strength.

Here the righ running shock originated from the top wedge interacts with the left running shock
originated from the bottom wedge, hence this is the S/S interaction for shocks of different families.
For simplicity we have considered flow delfection angles to be same (θ) for both the wedges.The top
wedge, in this situation, is responsible for right running shock wave while bottom wedge is
responsible for left running shock wave. Now consider ths streamline ABC passing through the right
running shock and PQR passing through the left running shock. The right running shock wave
induces negative deflection to the streamline ABC at B, while left running shock wave induces
positive deflection to the streamline PQR at Q. The corresponding increase in pressure associated
with the flow turning are shown in Fig. 22.2 using the P- θ diagram. Here we can clearly see that
points A & P are identical in this plot, since both the point are in the region upstream of shocks.
Since streamline ABC gets negative deflection and streamline PQR gets positive deflection of same
magnetude, points B and Q represent same pressure but different delfections of same magnetude.
Suppose, both the shocks are weak enough to keep the flow supersonic in the region given by
points B and Q of the streamlines. The flow properties will be indentical donwstream of the first
shocks (at B and Q), except the y-direction velocity. After interaction we can see that two different
shocks originate from the interaction point. The main reason for this shock formation is to avoid the
collision and intersection of streamlines ABC and PQR. Therefore, streamline ABC passes through a
left running shock and streamline PQR passes through the right running shock wave. Hence the
further pressure rise is evident in Fig. 22.2 in the presence of post interaction shocks.

Fig, 22.2. Pressure deflection diagram for S/S interaction of shocks of different families and same
strength.

Moreover, these shocks cancel out the deflection so as to make the both the streamlines parallel to
each other without avoiding their crossing. For flow downstream of first shock, we have to draw the
pressure-deflection diagram from points B & Q respectively corresponding to their Mach numbers
(which are identical in the present situation). Again it can be seen that, points C and R represent
same pressure and deflection.
2.2 Ineraction of shocks of differet family

Now consider the same S/S interaction problem for shocks of different strengths. As shown in Fig.
22.3 wedge angles and hence the flow deflection angles are shown different to imitate the two
different shock strength for S/S interaction understanding.,/

Fig, 22.3. Typical example of S/S interaction of shocks of different families and dfiferent strength.

Here the wedge angles are θ1 and θ2 for top wedge and bottom wedge respectively, where θ1 > θ2in
magnitude. Similar to the earlier situation, the top wedge is responsible for right running shock wave
while bottom wedge is responsible for left running shock wave. Consider the streamlines ABC
passing through the right running shock originated from top wedge and streamline PQR passing
through the left running shock originated from bottom wedge. Initial deflection acquired by both the
streamlines will be different in this case since the flow delfection angles are different. Flow
deflection angles and corresponding pressures at point B and Q are shown using the P-θ diagram
in Fig. 22.4. Here we can clearly see that points A & P are identical due to the fact that both the
points belong to the region upstream of shocks.

Fig, 22.4. Pressure deflection diagram for S/S interaction of shocks of different families and
dfiferent strength.

In this situation, streamline ABC gets negative deflection of higher magnitude at points B in
comparison with the defelction of streamline PQR at point Q. Due to higher strength of the right
running shock, pressure at point B will be more than that of point Q. Therefore unlike earlier
situation, all the flow properties will be different downstream of the first shocks at B and Q.
Suppose, both the shocks are weak enough to keep the flow supsonic in the region given by points
B and Q of the streamlines. However, when both (right and left running) shocks intersect, we can
see similar interaction from where two new shocks originate. The reason for presence of these two
shocks is to make the flows (passing over top wedge and passing over bottom wedge) parallel to
each other. Streamline ABC which has higher deflection, now passes through the left running shock
but can not cancel the earlier deflection completely. Hence, the part of the flow passed from the top
wedge ratains certain negetaive deflection in the region of point C. At the same time, the part of the
flow passing from the bottom wedge, which has positive deflection with respective passes though
the right running shock which intern cancels its positive deflection and induces negative deflection in
the region of point R so that streamlines ABC and PQR become parallel to each other at the end of
the interaction region. Hence the strength of the shock encountered by the streamline PQR while
passing from Q to R is higher than the strength of the shock encountered by the streamline ABC
while passing from B to C. The new entity which we can observe is the slip line (shown by dotted
line) which originates from the point of intersection of the shocks. The main purpose of this line is to
avoid mixing of two flows passing from two differnt shock patterns which have different entropies.
However pressure and direction of velocity remains conserved across this line. Therefore the final
points C and R shown in Fig. 22.4 portray finite amount of same deflection and pressure.

24.1 Shock Reflection

Reflection of shock wave from the wall is mainly of two types, regular reflection and irregular or
Mach reflection. These reflection patterns are shown in Fig. 24.1 and Fig. 24.2.

Fig. 24.1 Typical regular reflection of shock wave

Fig. 24.2 Typical Mach reflection of shock wave

The shock that originates from the corner of the compression wedge makes an angle β with the
freestream velocity vector. Flow behind this shock gets deflected by angle θ and becomes parallel to
the wedge. However, when the shock hits the top wall, the part of the flow which was parallel to the
top wall, upstream of the shock, also gets deflected by angle θ. Hence the flow downstream of the
shock does not remain parallel to the top wall. This contradicts the necessary condiction of
formation of shock, hence the primary shock gets reflected from the top wall to cancel out the
deflection of the flow and to make it parallel to the wall. In this process shock reflection can be
observed as the reflection of light ray, however the incident and relfection angle of shock are
dependant on shock upstream Mach number. Therefore this reflection is called as the regular
reflection. Typical pressure deflection diagram for the streamline ABC is shown in Fig. 24.3.

Fig. 24.3 Pressure deflection diagram for the regular reflection case

Providing equal and opposite deflection to the flow as that provided by incident shock is the
objective of refleted shock. However possibility of such a deflection behind the reflected shock
depends on the Mach number behind the incident shock or Mach number upstream to the reflected
shock (in region B of Fig. 24.3). If the deflection required is more than the maximum possible
delfection for that Mach number then the reflection of shock does not remain as regular reflection
since the reflected shock gets detached from the wall.

24.2 Mach Reflection

Typical Mach reflection situation is shown in Fig 24.2. Lets understand the reason for deviation
from regular reflection to Mach reflection.We know from Fig. 24.1 that the presence of reflected
shock is mainly to deflect the flow in region B and make it parallel with the wall. The amount of this
flow deflection expected from the reflected shock is same as that from the primary or incident
shock. However, regular reflection ensures that this deflection is less than the maximum possible
defection corresponding to the Mach number in region B in the same figure. A situation has been
shown in Fig. 24.3 which shows the possibility of where the expected deflection using reflected
shock more than the maximum deflection possible corresponding to Mach number in region B.
Fig. 24.3 Reason for Mach reflection using pressure deflection diagram.

Therefore, since refelcted shock can not provide the necessary deflection to the flow so as to make
it parallel to the wall, the incident or primary shock does not reflect like the ray of light or regular
reflection. This is the main reason for the Mach reflection shown in Fig 24.2.

25.1. Expansion Fan

We have already seen that compression of supersonic flow takes while passing through the shock.
In other words, when the supersonic flow turns into itself then it undergoes the compression
through a shock. Exactly opposite situation can be encountered when the supersonic flow tuns out
of itself where, expansion of the supersonic flow takes place. This expansion unlike compression
takes place smoothly through infinite expansion waves hence called as expansion fan. This
expansion fan is comprised of infinte number of expansion waves or Mach waves where every wave
is responsible for infinitesimal amount of delfection. iTypical expansion fan in the supersonic flow is
shown in Fig. 25.1. where supersonic flow tuns outward by an angle θ.
Fig. 25.1 Expansion of supersonic flow

For better understanding of expansion of supersonic flow, consider that p1, T1 and M1 be the
properties of flow before expansion or upstream of the expansion fan and p2, T2 and M2 be the
properties of the flow after expansion or downstream of the expansion fan due to outward
deflection by an angle θ. For the know upstream flow properties and deflection angle it should be
possible for us to calculate the downstream flow properties. Since the expansion is the continuous
and smooth process carried out via infinite Mach waves, lets consider one such wave across
upstream of which velocity is V and Mach number is M. Angle made by this Mach wave with the
upstream velocity vector is μ. Lets consider dV be the change in velocity brought by the Mach wave
by turning through an angle dθ. Hence V+dV is downstream velcoity and M+dM is the downstream
Mach number. If we construct the velocity triangle as shown in Fig. 25.2 then we can use the sin
law for traingle as,

Fig. 25.2 Velocity triangle across a typical Mach wave during supersonic expansion
 25.1

But we know that

and

Hence we can re-write Eq. (25.1) as,

25.2

We can approximate as
sin dθ ≈ dθ and cos dθ ≈ 1, Therefore Eq. (25.2) can be simplified as,

25.3

since dθ tan μ < 1, lets recall the expansion for x<1,

Neglecting higher order term, we can express Eq. (25.3) as,

But we know that

and hence
Hence above equation becomes,

25.1. Prandtl Meyer Function

We can see that since for positive value of dθ, we get positive dV which leads to expansion. This
formula is also valid for small angles for compression where we get negetive dV. If we integrate this
formula for the toal expansion angle then we can get the downstream Mach number.

25.4

Before integrating we can express the integrant in Mach number,

V = Ma
ln V = ln M + ln a

25.5

We can express here the second term on right hand side in terms of Mach number using the
isentropic relations as,

25.6

Using Eq. (25.5) and (25.6) we can re-write Eq. (25.4) as,

Intergration of right hand side is as,

Here, v is called as the Prandtl-Meyer function.

θ = v(M2) - v(M1) 25.7

Therefore upstream Mach number (M1) we can calculate the upstream Prandtl-Meyer function.
Hence for known flow deflection angle and upstream Mach number we can get the downstream
Prandtl-Meyer function and hence the downstream Mach number.

Process of expansion of supersonic flow is an isentropic process. However, while passing through
the expansion fan, pressure, temperature and density of the flow decreases while Mach number and
velocity increases for the supersonic flow. Moreover, all the total properties remain constant. We can
calculate the total pressure, temperature and density upstream of the expansion using isentropic
relations for the known flow Mach number. From the calculated downstream Mach number, we can
calculate all the static flow properties from known stagnation or total properties.