Numerical solution of a free boundary problem in hypersonic flow theory: Nonequilibrium viscous shock layers (Q687380)

Numerical method for the viscous shock layer problem of hypersonic flow is considered. Because the position of the shock is not known, one has to solve a free-boundary problem. By introducing a reduced coordinate, the problem is transformed into a nonlinear eigenvalue problem. The new problem for an augmented set of variables is then solved with Newton iterations and adaptive gridding. New boundary conditions are also derived at the shock. The proposed method which yields simultaneously the flow variables and the shock position has the advantage of coupling all the components of the dependent solution.