Ballistic Research
Laboratory Report No. 423
Chandrasekhar/emh
Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.
8 November 1943
ON THE DECAY OF PLANE SHOCK WAVES
Abstract
In this report the problem of the decay of plane shock waves is considered and it is shown that there exists a special class of shock pulses for which the problem of decay admits of an explicit solution. The case in question arises when shocks of moderate intensities (Mach numbers less than 1.5 if an accuracy of one per cent is demanded) are considered. In these cases the changes in entropy as well as in the quantity 5 c — u (where c denotes the local velocity of sound and u the mass velocity) as the shock front is crossed can be neglected. The case of linear shock pulses in which both u and c are linear functions of x behind the shock front is considered particularly in some detail.
