Chap 7
Chap 7
Chap 7
We can also demonstrate that cs is the speed of a travel- SOUND WAVES : A FORMAL APPROACH
ling wave. Let some perturbation (δρ, δp, δT ) be mov-
We can also use a more mathematical approach, deriv-
ing at some cs . Ahead of the wave the fluid has v = 0;
ing a formal wave equation by linearizing our two basic
behind the wave the fluid has δv, in the same direction
equations, continuity & momentum:
as the wave motion.
∂ρ
+ ∇ · (ρv) = 0 (7.5)
∂t
(assuming no body forces)
∂v
ρ + ρ(v · ∇)v = −∇p (7.6)
∂t
Our question is, at what speed does a small, compres-
sional disturbance in the gas travel? We start with a
uniform, static unperturbed state, described by ρo , po
and vo = 0. We add small perturbations, ρ1 , p1 and v1 .
If we put these into the mass and momentum equations,
(7.5) and (7.6), noting that the “o” terms are constant in
space and in time, we get
∂ρ1
Figure 7.1. Propagation of a sound wave: (a) into a still + v1 · ∇ρo + (ρo + ρ1 )∇ · v = 0
∂t
fluid; (b) a stationary wave. From Kundu figure 15.1. Note,
u here is the same as v in the text. and
∂v1
Mass conservation at the wave front, in a frame moving (ρo + ρ1 ) + (ρo + ρ1 )v1 · ∇v1 = −∇p1
with the wave front, gives ∂t
ρcs = (ρ + δρ)(cs − δv) In these equations, we now drop terms which are sec-
ond order in the perturbed quantities, and we write
and to lowest order small, this gives ∇p = (∂p/∂ρ)∇ρ. This gives us
δρ ∂ρ1
δv ≃ cs (7.2) + ρo ∇ · v1 = 0 (7.7)
ρ ∂t
39
this point. Pressure gradients have only a limited range • hypersonic: M ∼ < 3, say. Qualitatively the same as
of influence, and conditions far away have little or no supersonic flow, but some interesting new effects – such
effect on a solution locally. We’ll see that supersonic as strong heating and ionization of boundary layers –
flows can (and usually do) contain discontinuous jumps come into play. Shocks can be analyzed in the strong-
in the flow properties (shocks). They can violate our shock limit (chapter 9).
subsonic intuition, for instance a supersonic flow in a
diverging channel will accelerate (as we’ll see below). C. Weak Waves and Causality
perturbation
How can we use the signal speed – the sound speed –
Undisturbed flow to understand a flow? One way to approach this, fol-
cs cs lowing Currie, is to consider “weak waves”. Specify to
reverse waves forward waves
a 1D system, and let co be the undisturbed value of cs .
Figure 7.2. Physical illustration of simple waves. The Equations (7.7) and (7.8) become
information that the flow has been “whacked” at point a, ∂ρ1 ∂v1 ∂v1 ∂ρ1
propagates by simple sound waves, moving at speed cs + ρo = 0 ; ρo + c2s =0
relative to the fluid in the pipe. Following Thompson figure ∂t ∂x ∂t ∂x
8.6 In the previous derivation, cs can be a function of den-
sity, and thus can vary within the wave. Here, we sim-
plify by taking cs to be a constant, co . But now: be-
cause ρo is assumed constant, and because vo = 0, we
ct
s can write
vt vt
∂ρ ∂v ∂v ∂ρ
cst
+ ρo = 0 ; ρo + c2o =0 (7.18)
∂t ∂x ∂t ∂x
M<1 M>1
M=0
diaphragm
and
v 1 p p1 p0
J− = − = constant
co γ po (7.23)
on x + co t = constant t
lines x = ±co t are the loci of forward and backward (3) P (3)
propagating sound waves. Our results say that the quan- (2)
tities on the left of equations (7.21) and (7.23) are con- (1)
U
(piston)
t
x=Ut
P
x=ct
(v=U)
x
(v=0, p=p0)
Figure 7.5. Illustrating the geometry of the piston
problem, in the x,t plane. The two solid lines are the locus
of the piston (assumed to be close to vertical; U ≪ co ), and
the forward wave starting from the origin. The dotted lines
are the two waves which intersect the observation point P ,
and the third (reverse) wave used to connect the piston to
the x > 0 axis. Following Currie Figure 11.5.
References
Good references here include Thompson, Currie,
Kundu and Faber.