Theoretical and experimental aspects of the shock structure problem

Abstract

There does not yet exist a general, reliable theory of the flow of rarefied gases, bridging the gap between simple free molecular flow methods and the Navier-Stokes theory. It is clear today that an essential improvement of the range of applicability of the Navier-Stokes equations cannot be expected from the higher approximations in the Chapman-Enskog procedure but that different methods of finding approximate solutions of the Boltzmann equation are needed. The shock wave structure problem is one of the best test cases for such attempts because it is realistic, amenable to experimentation, and simple enough to expect that in the future an exact solution of the Boltzmann equation can be obtained.

This paper presents the results of one phase of research carried out under Contract No. NAS7-100 and Research Grant NsG-40-60 sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.