University of Kirkuk

College of engineering
Mechanical department
Third stage (morning study)

Normal shock wave

Prepared by: Tara Nafih & mhamed jabbar

Supervised by: Dr. Khalaf Ibrahim hamda

Definition:
A shock wave is when lots of energy comes from a very small spot and shakes
the material around it. The energy makes the material around the spot move
very quickly, and very hard. This is a special type of vibration, and it is very
strong.

Types of shock wave:

1- Normal shock wave
2- Oblique shock wave
3- Curved shock wave

Normal shock wave:

If the shock wave is perpendicular to the flow direction it is called a normal
shock. A normal shock occurs in front of supersonic object if the flow is turned
by a large amount and the shock cannot remain attached to t

fig (1) normal shock wave

Introduction:
Fluid is a substance that deforms continuously under the action of tangential
stresses. Fluid mechanics is the branch of applied mechanics in which the
behavior of fluid is studied under the action of forces. It is classified into three
categories namely as fluid statics, fluid kinematics and fluid dynamics. If the
fluid is at rest, it’s study is said to be fluid statics. If the fluid is in motion, it is
known as fluid kinematics. In the above mentioned types, external forces (body
and surface forces) are not considered. If these forces are considered, then fluid
is said to be fluid dynamics. Fluid dynamics is further classified into two
categories, namely as hydrodynamics and aerodynamics. In hydrodynamics,
effects of water are studied in different channels, while in aerodynamics, effects
of air studied over the solid bodies. Aerodynamics is an applied science with
many practical application in engineering. The flow of air over objects is of
fundamental interest to aeronautical and space engineers in the design of air
crafts, missiles and rockets. The knowledge of fluid mechanics is used to
maximize lift and minimize drag on these bodies. The engineers of
aerodynamics are always interested to increase the velocity of objects (jets,
rockets, etc.).

Basic relation:
Let’s consider a rectangular piece of air (the system) around a normal shock
wave, as is shown in figure 1. To the left of this shock wave are the initial
properties of the flow (denoted by the subscript 1). To the right are the
conditions behind the wave.

Fig (2) relation for the normal shock wave

We can already note a few things about the flow. It is a steady flow (the properties
stay constant in time). It is also adiabatic, since no heat is added. No viscous effects
are present between the system and its boundaries. Finally, there are no body forces.
Now what can we derive? Using the continuity equation, we can find that the mass
flow that enters the system on the left is 𝜌1 𝑢1 𝐴1 with u the velocity of the flow in x-
direction. The mass flow that leaves the system on the right is𝜌2 𝑢2 𝐴2 However, since
the system is rectangular, we have A1 = A2. So we find that:

𝜌1 𝑢1 𝐴1 − 𝜌2 𝑢2 𝐴2 …………….(1)

We can also use the momentum equation. The momentum entering the system every
second is given by (𝜌1 𝑢1 𝐴1 )𝑢1 . The momentum flow leaving the system is identically
(𝜌2 𝑢2 𝐴2 )𝑢2 . The net force acting on the system is given by 𝑝1 𝐴1 = 𝑝2 𝐴2 . Combining
everything, we can find that:

𝑝1 + 𝜌1 𝑢12 = 𝑝2 + 𝜌2 𝑢22 …………….(2)

Finally let’s look at the energy. The energy entering the system every second is
𝑢12 𝑢22
(𝜌1 𝑢1 𝐴1 )(𝑒1 + ). Identically, the energy leaving the system is ( 𝜌2 𝑢2 𝐴2 ) (𝑒2 + )
2 2
No heat is added to the system (the flow is adiabatic). There is work done on the
system though. The amount of work done every second is 𝑝1 𝐴1 𝑢1 − 𝑝2 𝐴2 𝑢2 . Once
more, we can combine everything to get:
𝑢12 𝑢22
h1+ = ℎ2 + ………………(3)
2 2

This equation states that the total enthalpy is the same on both sides of the shock
wave. Since the shock wave was adiabatic, we actually already knew that. So this was
no surprising result. The three equations we have just derived hold for all one-
dimensional, steady, adiabatic, inviscid flows. But let’s take a closer look at them.
Let’s suppose that all upstream conditions ρ1, u1, p1, h1 and T1 are known. We can’t
solve for all the downstream conditions just yet. We have only three equations, while
we have four unknowns. We need a few more equations. These equations are:

ℎ = 𝑐𝑝 𝑇 ……………..(4)

𝑃 = 𝜌𝑅𝑇 ..…………..(5)
That wasn’t much new, was it? We now have 5 unknowns and 5 equations. So we can
solve everything.

The speed of sound

A special kind of normal shock wave is a sound wave. In fact, it is an
infinitesimally weak normal shock wave. Because of this, dissipative
phenomena (like viscosity and thermal conduction) can be neglected, making it
an isentropic flow at what velocity does this shock wave travel? Let’s call this
velocity the speed of sound a. Note that a = u 1 . Because the shock wave is very
weak, we can also state that p2 = p2+ dp , ρ2 = ρ2 + dρ and a2 = a1 + da. If we
combine these facts with the three equations we derived in the previous
paragraph, we eventually find that:
𝑑𝑝 𝜕𝑝
𝑎2 = ( )s ……………..(6)
𝑑𝜌 𝜕𝜌

The last part in the above equation is to indicate that the changes in p and ρ
occur isentropically. For isentropic processes we have
𝛾𝑝
𝑝 = 𝑐𝜌𝛾 → (𝜕𝑝/𝜕𝜌)s = ……..(7)
𝜌

This results in:

𝛾𝑝
𝑎=√ = √𝛾𝑅𝑇 …………..(8)
𝜌

Where we used the equation of state in the last part. So apparently, for a given
medium, the speed of sound only depends on the temperature.

Do you still remember the compressibility we introduced in the previous

chapter? From the equation dρ = 𝜌Tdp we can also derive that:

1
𝑎 = √ ………………(9)
𝜌 𝑇
Note that we have used the isentropic compressibility because the process is
isentropic. So we see that the lower the compressibility of a substance, the faster
sound travels in it.

The Mach number:

The Mach number M is defined as
𝑢
𝑀= ……………….(10)
𝑎

A lot of properties can be derived from the Mach number. Let’s recall the total
temperature T0. This can be found using
𝑢2
𝑐𝑝 𝑇𝑜 = 𝑐𝑝 𝑇 + ……………….(11)
2

From this we can derive that

𝑇𝑜 𝛾−1
=1+ 𝑀2 ………………(12)
𝑇 2

Using the isentropic flow relations, we can also find that

𝛾
𝑝𝑜 𝛾−1
= (1 + 𝑀2 )𝛾−1 ...………(13)
𝑝 2

𝛾
𝜌𝑂 𝛾−1
= (1 + 𝑀2 )𝛾−1 ………….(14)
𝜌 2

Sonic Conditions
When you slow an air flow down adiabatically to u = 0(and thus M = 0) you
find the total temperature Tt, total pressure pt, total density ρt, and so on.
Similarly, we can change the velocity of a flow adiabatically such that M = 1.
The corresponding temperature at sonic conditions is denoted by 𝑇 ∗ . The
characteristic speed of sound 𝑎∗ can now be found using 𝑎∗ = √𝛾𝑅𝑇 ∗ .
However, we can also determine that
2 2
𝑎2 𝑢2 𝑎∗ 𝑎∗ 𝛾+1 2
+ = + = 𝑎∗ = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 ……... (15)
𝛾−1 2 𝛾−1 2 2(𝛾−1)

Just like we can examine the speed of sound at sonic conditions, we can also
look at the temperature T*, pressure p* and density ρ* at such conditions. By
inserting M = 1 in equations (12) to (14) we find that:
𝛾 𝛾
𝑇𝑜 𝛾+1 𝑝𝑜 𝛾+1 𝜌𝑜 𝛾+1
= , =( ) 𝛾−1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 =( ) 𝛾−1 ………..(16)
𝑇∗ 2 𝑝∗ 2 𝜌∗ 2

Finally we can define the characteristic Mach number M* as

𝑢
𝑀∗ = ………………(17)
𝑎∗

We can find that M and M* are related, according to

2
2 2M∗ 2 (γ+1)M2
M = 2 ↔ M∗ = ……(18)
(γ−1)−(γ−1)M∗ 2+(γ−1)M2

The parameters M and M∗ are quite similar. If one is bigger than 1, so is the
other, and vice-versa.

Normal shock wave relation

There are several other relations that hold for normal shock waves. We will
discuss some of them. We start with the Prandtl relation, stating that
2
𝑎∗ = 𝑢1 𝑢2 ↔ 1 = 𝑀1∗ 𝑀2∗ ……………..(19)
From this follows that:
2+(𝛾−1)𝑀22
𝑀22 = …………………….(20)
2𝛾𝑀12 −(𝛾−1)

This is an important relation. If M1 > 1 we have M2 < 1. If M1 = 1, then also

M2 = 1. (If this is the case we are dealing with an infinitely weak shock wave,
called a Mach wave.) However, if M1 < 1 it would seem that M2 > 1. But this
seems rather odd. Suddenly a subsonic flow becomes supersonic! A more
detailed look would show that in this case also the entropy s would decrease.
But the second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy can only increase.
What can we conclude from this? It means that in subsonic flows no shock
waves can appear. Shock waves are thus only present in supersonic flows. Now
we know how to find M2. But can we also find the other properties behind the
shock wave? It turns out that we can, using
𝜌2 𝑢1 (𝛾+1)𝑀12
= = ……………..(21)
𝜌1 𝑢2 2+(𝛾−1)𝑀12

𝑃2 2𝛾
=1+ (𝑀12 − 1) …………..(22)
𝑃1 𝛾+1

𝑇2 ℎ2 𝑝2 𝜌1 2𝛾 2+(𝛾−1)𝑀12
= = = (1 + (𝑀12 − 1)) ( )……….(23)
𝑇1 ℎ1 𝑝1 𝜌2 𝛾+1 (𝛿+1)𝑀12

It would also be interesting to know how the total temperature Tt and the total
pressure pt change across the shock wave. Since a shockwave is an adiabatic
process we know that h1 = h2 and thus also Tt,1 = Tt,2. Finally, using the relation
for entropy we can find that
𝑠2 −𝑠1
𝑝𝑡,2
= 𝑒− 𝑅 ………………(24)
𝑝𝑡,1

So what can we derive from all the above equations? When passing through a
shock wave, the properties of the flow change drastically. The pressure,
temperature and density increase, while the total pressure and the Mach number
decrease. The total temperature and the enthalpy stay constant.
Measuring the velocity
When an aircraft is flying, it would be nice to know how fast it is going. To find
this out, a Pitot tube is used, measuring the total pressure pt. We also assume
that the static pressure p is known. To find the velocity during a subsonic flight,
we can simply use the relation
𝛾
𝑝𝑡 𝛾−1
= (1 + 𝑀2 )𝛾−1 ………………(25)
𝑝 𝛾

Solving for M2 and using u2 = M2a2 we find that:

𝛾−1
2 2𝑎2 𝑝𝑡
𝑢 = (( 𝑝 ) 𝛾 − 1)…………….(26)
𝛾−1

So to find the velocity, we also need to know the speed of sound. But if we
know that, it’s easy to find the velocity.

To find the velocity during a supersonic flight is a bit more difficult, since there
is a shock wave. This time the Pitot tube measures the total pressure behind the
shock wave pt,2. The static pressure that was known is now called p1. This time
we need to use the relation
𝛾
𝑝𝑡,2 𝑝𝑡,2 (𝛾+1)2 𝑀12 (1−𝛾)+2𝛾𝑀12
= =( )𝛾−1
𝑝1 𝑝2 𝑝1 4𝛾𝑀12 −2(𝛾−1) 𝛾+1

This equation is called the Rayleigh Pitot tube formula. In its derivation we used
the normal shock wave relations for the ratio p2/p1. We used the relation for
total pressure in an isentropic flow for the ratio pt,2/p2. From this equation the
Mach number can be solved. Then only the speed of sound is still needed to find
the flight velocity u
EX/ A supersonic flow at mach 3.0 and 𝛾 = 1.4 is to be slowed down via a
normal shock in a diverging channel .For the condition shown in figure find
p2/p1 and pe/pi?

Sol/
𝐴𝑖 𝐴𝑒 𝐴𝑖
∗ = 4.2346, ∗ = 1.5901 , 𝑎𝑛𝑑 = 0.50
𝐴𝑖 𝐴𝑒 𝐴𝑒
𝐴∗𝑖 𝐴∗𝑖 𝐴𝑖 𝐴𝑒 1 𝑝𝑜𝑒 𝑝𝑜2
𝐴∗𝑒
=
𝐴𝑖 𝐴𝑒 𝐴∗𝑒
=(
4.2346
) (0.50)(1.5901) = 0.1878= 𝑝𝑜𝑖
=
𝑝𝑜1

At M1= 3.6455

𝑝2
= 15.3378
𝑝1

𝑝𝑒 𝑝𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖 1
= = (0.8956)(0.1878) ( ) = 6.1790
𝑝𝑖 𝑝𝑜𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖 𝑝𝑖 0.02722