Decay of a saw-tooth profile in chemically reacting gases (Q1321970): Difference between revisions

Authors have used the progressive wave approach to obtain an asymptotic solution for the nonlinear system of partial differential equations governing an unsteady axisymmetric flow of a chemically reacting gas. They have derived a Burgers-type evolution equation for the wave amplitude function, which leads to the Bernoulli-type evolution equation governing the growth and decay of an acceleration wave. It is concluded that all expansion wavefronts decay with time but all compressive wavefronts do not. In order to discuss the decay of compressive wavefronts, the authors have defined a critical value of the initial wave amplitude. Compressive waves with magnitude greater than the critical value will grow into a shock wave within a finite time. When a piston suddenly accelerates from rest into a chemically reacting gas and then decelerates to a zero velocity, it gives rise to a shock front moving ahead of the disturbance and the expansive wavefront following it. This physical situation of a flow pattern can be described as a saw-tooth profile with an expansive wavefront on the left and a shock wave on the right. The authors have investigated the decay of a saw-tooth profile due to diffusion of disturbances, and they have found that the relaxation effects of the chemically reacting gas flow will accelerate diffusion and cause early decay of the saw-tooth profile.