An asymptotic expansion for 1D steady compressible Navier‐Stokes equations under nonuniform enthalpy

Abstract

The solutions of the one‐dimensional (1D) steady compressible Navier‐Stokes equations have been thoroughly discussed before, but restrained for uniform total enthalpy, which leads to only a shock wave profile possible in an infinite domain. To date, very little progress has been made for the case with nonuniform total enthalpy. In this paper, we affirm that under nonuniform total enthalpy, there also exists steady solution for the 1D compressible Navier‐Stokes equations, but the flow domain must be finite in the positive ‐axis. The 1D steady compressible Navier‐Stokes equations can be reduced to a singular perturbed nonlinear ordinary differential equation (ODE) for velocity with the assumptions of and a constant viscosity coefficient. By analyzing the mathematical property of the nonlinear ODE for velocity, we propose an asymptotic expansion for the solution of it as an exponential type sequence and also prove the convergence. Unlike the case of uniform total enthalpy, where the solutions for all variables keep monotone, we show that under nonuniform total enthalpy and some specific boundary conditions, there exists extreme inside the thin boundary layer. Numerical results verify the accuracy and convergence of the asymptotic expansion. This asymptotic expansion solution can serve as an important testing to demonstrate the efficiency of numerical methods developed for compressible Navier‐Stokes equations at high Reynolds number.