Twodimensionalflow

Althoughonedimensionalflowcanbedirectlyanalysed,itismerelyaspecializedcaseoftwodimensionalflow.It
followsthatoneofthedefiningphenomenaofonedimensionalflow,anormalshock,islikewiseonlyaspecialcaseofa
largerclassofobliqueshocks.Further,thename"normal"iswithrespecttogeometryratherthanfrequencyof
occurrence.Obliqueshocksaremuchmorecommoninapplicationssuchas:aircraftinletdesign,objectsinsupersonic
flight,and(atamorefundamentallevel)supersonicnozzlesanddiffusers.Dependingontheflowconditions,anoblique
shockcaneitherbeattachedtotheflowordetachedfromtheflowintheformofabowshock.

Bowshockexampleforabluntbody
AttachedshockwaveshownonaX
15Modelinasupersonicwindtunnel

Obliqueshockwaves

Obliqueshockwavesaresimilartonormalshockwaves,buttheyoccuratangles
lessthan90withthedirectionofflow.Whenadisturbanceisintroducedtothe
flowatanonzeroangle(),theflowmustrespondtothechangingboundary
conditions.Thusanobliqueshockisformed,resultinginachangeinthe
directionoftheflow.

Shockpolardiagram

Basedonthelevelofflowdeflection(),obliqueshocksarecharacterizedas
eitherstrongorweak.Strongshocksarecharacterizedbylargerdeflectionand
moreentropylossacrosstheshock,withweakshocksastheopposite.Inorderto Diagramofobstruction
gaincursoryinsightintothedifferencesintheseshocks,ashockpolardiagram
canbeused.Withthestatictemperatureaftertheshock,T*,knownthespeedof
soundaftertheshockisdefinedas,

withRasthegasconstantandasthespecificheatratio.TheMachnumbercan
bebrokenintoCartesiancoordinates
Shockpolardiagram