Abstract
We investigated, in the Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) framework, the development of spiral structures and shock fronts in the radial flow of accretion discs in close binary systems. These shock waves take place when the initially radial flow penetrating the disc bulk, reduces substantially its speed becoming suddenly subsonic. To this purpose, keeping constant the mass of the compact primary (M1= 1M⊙), the separation between the two components and the injection speed at the inner lagrangian point L1(close to the local sound speed), we carried out four 2D SPH simulations for four values of the stellar mass ratio M2/M1.The results show that spiral structures and shock fronts develop for low values of M2 /M1, whilst they become less evident for higher values. This behaviour is interpreted in terms of initial specific angular momentum at L1whose position, relative to the companions, depends on the stellar mass ratio.Keywordsspiral shocksaccretion diskssecondary to primary mass ratio
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