Self-similar flow behind a shock wave in a gas under the effect of viscosity, heat conduction, and variable ambient density

Abstract

Self-similar solutions have been investigated to describe the propagation of planar shock waves in a non-ideal gas generated by a piston under viscous stress and heat flux. The equation of state for non-ideal gas incorporates the correction in pressure and volume of the gas. The piston position and ambient density vary exponentially with time. Newton’s law of viscosity is used for the viscous stress and Fourier’s law of heat conduction is taken for heat flux. The viscosity coefficient is taken as constant whereas the thermal conductivity coefficient varies with temperature and density following the power law. The shock jump conditions have been derived for the viscous non-ideal gas using integral form of conservation laws. The shock Reynolds number Re s has been introduced to study the effect of viscosity on shock propagation in non-ideal gas. It is found that similarity solution exists only in an ideal gas under the condition that the ambient density exponent is equal to twice the shock position exponent. This study shows that shock Reynolds number Re s and heat conduction parameter Γ c can be used to control the variation of the flow variables and piston position significantly. The shock strength decreases with increase in the value of shock Reynolds number Re s but is independent of the heat conduction parameter Γ c . The pressure, density, and adiabatic compressibility have significant deviations from high to low viscous flow of ideal gas but the velocity and heat flux undergo negligible change. The results do not support the claim of negligible effect of viscosity in earlier studies and establish the impact of viscosity and heat flux on shock propagation in an ideal gas.