Numerical solution of simplified Oswatitsch equation in transonic flow

Abstract

HE simplified Oswatitsch equation is a one-dimensional nonlinear singular integral equation, occurring in transonic aerodynamics.l It is an approximate version of Oswatitsch's integral equation, whose kernel has a dipole singularity. According to transonic small perturbation theory, the Oswatitsch equation is the basic equation governing the steady inviscid irrotational flow of a perfect gas past a thin symmetric profile at zero incidence, with subsonic freestream Mach number Mx rstrud 4 and Nixon5 deserve special mention. In the present work, the simplified Oswatitsch equation has been solved by two different numerical procedures, viz., the direct iteration scheme (DIS) proposed by Niyogi and Chakraborty6 and by the recent perturbed iterative scheme (PIS) put forward by Dey7 for solving a system of nonlinear algebraic equations. Further, this nonlinear integral equation was used as a test case for studying the global convergence behavior of PIS. From computational results, it has been found that for a parabolic arc profile there exists a range of values for the reduced thickness ratio r (which is a transonic similarity parameter), where both the procedures lead to the same shock-free supercritical solution, and that in this range PIS converges much faster than DIS. However, for higher values of r beyond this range, there exists another range where, contrary to expectations, DIS converges but PIS fails to converge, indicating that DIS has a wider range of convergence.