Compressibleflow

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Compressibleflow(gasdynamics)isthebranchoffluidmechanicsthatdealswithflowshavingsignificantchangesin
fluiddensity.Gases,mostly,displaysuchbehaviour.[1]Whileallflowsarecompressible,flowsareusuallytreatedas
beingincompressiblewhentheMachnumber(theratioofthespeedoftheflowtothespeedofsound)islessthan0.3
(sincethedensitychangeduetovelocityisabout5%inthatcase).[2]Thestudyofcompressibleflowisrelevantto
highspeedaircraft,jetengines,rocketmotors,highspeedentryintoaplanetaryatmosphere,gaspipelines,commercial
applicationssuchasabrasiveblasting,andmanyotherfields.

Contents
1 History
2 Introductoryconcepts
3 Machnumber,wavemotion,andsonicspeed
4 Onedimensionalflow
4.1 ConvergingdivergingLavalnozzles
4.2 Maximumachievablevelocityofagas
4.3 IsentropicflowMachnumberrelationships
4.4 Achievingsupersonicflow
4.5 Nonisentropic1Dchannelflowofagasnormalshockwaves
5 Twodimensionalflow
5.1 Obliqueshockwaves
5.1.1 Shockpolardiagram
5.1.2 Obliqueshockreflection
5.1.2.1 Solidboundary
5.1.2.2 Irregularreflection
5.2 PrandtlMeyerfans
5.2.1 PrandtlMeyerexpansionfans
5.2.2 PrandtlMeyercompressionfans
6 Applications
6.1 Supersonicwindtunnels
6.2 Supersonicaircraftinlets
6.3 Naturalgaspipeline
7 Seealso
8 References
9 Externallinks

History
Thestudyofgasdynamicsisoftenassociatedwiththeflightofmodernhighspeedaircraftandatmosphericreentryof
spaceexplorationvehicleshowever,itsoriginsliewithsimplermachines.Atthebeginningofthe19thcentury,
investigationintothebehaviouroffiredbulletsledtoimprovementintheaccuracyandcapabilitiesofgunsand
artillery.[3]Asthecenturyprogressed,inventorssuchasGustafdeLavaladvancedthefield,whileresearcherssuchas
ErnstMachsoughttounderstandthephysicalphenomenoninvolvedthroughexperimentation.

Atthebeginningofthe20thcentury,thefocusofgasdynamicsresearchshiftedtowhatwouldeventuallybecomethe
aerospaceindustry.LudwigPrandtlandhisstudentsproposedimportantconceptsrangingfromtheboundarylayerto
supersonicshockwaves,supersonicwindtunnels,andsupersonicnozzledesign.[3]TheodorevonKrmn,astudentof
Prandtl,continuedtoimprovetheunderstandingofsupersonicflow.Othernotablefigures(Meyer,LuigiCrocco,and
Shapiro)alsocontributedsignificantlytotheprinciplesconsideredfundamentaltothestudyofmoderngasdynamics.
Manyothersalsocontributedtothisfield.

Accompanyingtheimprovedconceptualunderstandingofgasdynamicsintheearly20thcenturywasapublic
misconceptionthatthereexistedabarriertotheattainablespeedofaircraft,commonlyreferredtoasthe"soundbarrier."
Intruth,thebarriertosupersonicflightwasmerelyatechnologicalone,althoughitwasastubbornbarriertoovercome.
Amongstotherfactors,conventionalaerofoilssawadramaticincreaseindragcoefficientwhentheflowapproachedthe
speedofsound.Overcomingthelargerdragproveddifficultwithcontemporarydesigns,thustheperceptionofasound
barrier.However,aircraftdesignprogressedsufficientlytoproducetheBellX1.PilotedbyChuckYeager,theX1
officiallyachievedsupersonicspeedinOctober1947.[4]

Historically,twoparallelpathsofresearchhavebeenfollowedinordertofurthergasdynamicsknowledge.
Experimentalgasdynamicsundertakeswindtunnelmodelexperimentsandexperimentsinshocktubesandballistic
rangeswiththeuseofopticaltechniquestodocumentthefindings.Theoreticalgasdynamicsconsiderstheequationsof
motionappliedtoavariabledensitygas,andtheirsolutions.Muchofbasicgasdynamicsisanalytical,butinthe
moderneraComputationalfluiddynamicsappliescomputingpowertosolvetheotherwiseintractablenonlinearpartial
differentialequationsofcompressibleflowforspecificgeometriesandflowcharacteristics.

Introductoryconcepts
Thereareseveralimportantassumptionsinvolvedintheunderlyingtheoryof
compressibleflow.Allfluidsarecomposedofmolecules,buttrackingahuge
numberofindividualmoleculesinaflow(forexampleatatmosphericpressure)
isunnecessary.Instead,thecontinuumassumptionallowsustoconsidera
flowinggasasacontinuoussubstanceexceptatlowdensities.Thisassumption
providesahugesimplificationwhichisaccurateformostgasdynamicproblems.
Onlyinthelowdensityrealmofrarefiedgasdynamicsdoesthemotionof
individualmoleculesbecomeimportant.

Arelatedassumptionisthenoslipconditionwheretheflowvelocityatasolid
surfaceispresumedequaltothevelocityofthesurfaceitself,whichisadirect Breakdownoffluidmechanicschart
consequenceofassumingcontinuumflow.Thenoslipconditionimpliesthatthe
flowisviscous,andasaresultaboundarylayerformsonbodiestraveling
throughtheairathighspeeds,muchasitdoesinlowspeedflow.

Mostproblemsinincompressibleflowinvolveonlytwounknowns:pressureandvelocity,whicharetypicallyfoundby
solvingthetwoequationsthatdescribeconservationofmassandoflinearmomentum,withthefluiddensitypresumed
constant.Incompressibleflow,however,thegasdensityandtemperaturealsobecomevariables.Thisrequirestwomore
equationsinordertosolvecompressibleflowproblems:anequationofstateforthegasandaconservationofenergy
equation.Forthemajorityofgasdynamicproblems,thesimpleIdealgaslawistheappropriatestateequation.

Fluiddynamicsproblemshavetwooveralltypesofreferencesframes,calledLagrangianandEulerian(seeJoseph
LouisLagrangeandLeonhardEuler).TheLagrangianapproachfollowsafluidmassoffixedidentityasitmoves
throughaflowfield.TheEulerianreferenceframe,incontrast,doesnotmovewiththefluid.Ratheritisafixedframeor
controlvolumethatfluidflowsthrough.TheEulerianframeismostusefulinamajorityofcompressibleflowproblems,
butrequiresthattheequationsofmotionbewritteninacompatibleformat.

Finally,althoughspaceisknowntohave3dimensions,animportantsimplificationcanbehadindescribinggas
dynamicsmathematicallyifonlyonespatialdimensionisofprimaryimportance,hence1dimensionalflowisassumed.
Thisworkswellinduct,nozzle,anddiffuserflowswheretheflowpropertieschangemainlyintheflowdirectionrather
thanperpendiculartotheflow.However,animportantclassofcompressibleflows,includingtheexternalflowover
bodiestravelingathighspeed,requiresatleasta2dimensionaltreatment.Whenall3spatialdimensionsandperhaps
thetimedimensionaswellareimportant,weoftenresorttocomputerizedsolutionsofthegoverningequations.
Machnumber,wavemotion,andsonicspeed
TheMachnumber(M)isdefinedastheratioofthespeedofanobject(orofaflow)tothespeedofsound.Forinstance,
inairatroomtemperature,thespeedofsoundisabout340m/s(1,100ft/s).Mcanrangefrom0to,butthisbroad
rangefallsnaturallyintoseveralflowregimes.Theseregimesaresubsonic,transonic,supersonic,hypersonic,and
hypervelocityflow.ThefigurebelowillustratestheMachnumber"spectrum"oftheseflowregimes.

Machnumberflowregimesspectrum

Theseflowregimesarenotchosenarbitrarily,butratherarisenaturallyfromthestrongmathematicalbackgroundthat
underliescompressibleflow(seethecitedreferencetextbooks).Atveryslowflowspeedsthespeedofsoundissomuch
fasterthatitismathematicallyignored,andtheMachnumberisirrelevant.Oncethespeedoftheflowapproachesthe
speedofsound,however,theMachnumberbecomesallimportant,andshockwavesbegintoappear.Thusthetransonic
regimeisdescribedbyadifferent(andmuchmoredifficult)mathematicaltreatment.Inthesupersonicregimetheflow
isdominatedbywavemotionatobliqueanglessimilartotheMachangle.AboveaboutMach5,thesewaveanglesgrow
sosmallthatadifferentmathematicalapproachisrequired,definingtheHypersonicspeedregime.Finally,atspeeds
comparabletothatofplanetaryatmosphericentryfromorbit,intherangeofseveralkm/s,thespeedofsoundisnow
comparativelysoslowthatitisonceagainmathematicallyignoredintheHypervelocityregime.

Asanobjectacceleratesfromsubsonictowardsupersonicspeedinagas,differenttypesofwavephenomenaoccur.To
illustratethesechanges,thenextfigureshowsastationarypoint(M=0)thatemitssymmetricsoundwaves.Thespeed
ofsoundisthesameinalldirectionsinauniformfluid,sothesewavesaresimplyconcentricspheres.Asthesound
generatingpointbeginstoaccelerate,thesoundwaves"bunchup"inthedirectionofmotionand"stretchout"inthe
oppositedirection.Whenthepointreachessonicspeed(M=1),ittravelsatthesamespeedasthesoundwavesit
creates.Therefore,aninfinitenumberofthesesoundwaves"pileup"aheadofthepoint,formingaShockwave.Upon
achievingsupersonicflow,theparticleismovingsofastthatitcontinuouslyleavesitssoundwavesbehind.Whenthis
occurs,thelocusofthesewavestrailingbehindthepointcreatesanangleknownastheMachwaveangleorMach
angle,:

where representsthespeedofsoundinthegasand representsthevelocityoftheobject.Althoughnamedfor

AustrianphysicistErnstMach,theseobliquewaveswereactuallyfirstdiscoveredbyChristianDoppler.[5]
 Wavemotionandthespeedofsound

Onedimensionalflow
Onedimensional(1D)flowreferstotheflowofgasthroughaductorchannelinwhichtheflowparametersare
assumedtochangesignificantlyalongonlyonespatialdimension,namely,theductlength.Inanalysingthe1Dchannel
flow,anumberofassumptionsaremade:

Ratioofductlengthtowidth(L/D)isabout5(inordertoneglectfrictionandheattransfer),
Steadyvs.UnsteadyFlow,
Flowisisentropic(i.e.areversibleadiabaticprocess),
Idealgaslaw(i.e.P=RT)

ConvergingdivergingLavalnozzles

Asthespeedofaflowacceleratesfromthesubsonictothesupersonicregime,thephysicsofnozzleanddiffuserflows
isaltered.Usingtheconservationlawsoffluiddynamicsandthermodynamics,thefollowingrelationshipforchannel
flowisdeveloped(combinedmassandmomentumconservation):

wheredPisthedifferentialchangeinpressure,MistheMachnumber,isthedensityofthegas,Visthevelocityof
theflow,Aistheareaoftheduct,anddAisthechangeinareaoftheduct.Thisequationstatesthat,forsubsonicflow,a
convergingduct(dA<0)increasesthevelocityoftheflowandadivergingduct(dA>0)decreasesvelocityoftheflow.
Forsupersonicflow,theoppositeoccursduetothechangeofsignof(1M2).Aconvergingduct(dA<0)nowdecreases
thevelocityoftheflowandadivergingduct(dA>0)increasesthevelocityoftheflow.AtMach=1,aspecialcase
occursinwhichtheductareamustbeeitheramaximumorminimum.Forpracticalpurposes,onlyaminimumareacan
accelerateflowstoMach1andbeyond.Seetableofsubsupersonicdiffusersandnozzles.
 Tableshowingthereversalinthe
physicsofnozzlesanddiffuserswith
changingMachnumbers

Therefore,toaccelerateaflowtoMach1,anozzlemustbedesignedtoconvergetoaminimumcrosssectionalareaand
thenexpand.ThistypeofnozzletheconvergingdivergingnozzleiscalledadeLavalnozzleafterGustafdeLaval,
whoinventedit.Assubsonicflowenterstheconvergingductandtheareadecreases,theflowaccelerates.Upon
reachingtheminimumareaoftheduct,alsoknownasthethroatofthenozzle,theflowcanreachMach1.Ifthespeed
oftheflowistocontinuetoincrease,itsdensitymustdecreaseinordertoobeyconservationofmass.Toachievethis
decreaseindensity,theflowmustexpand,andtodoso,theflowmustpassthroughadivergingduct.Seeimageofde
LavalNozzle.

NozzledeLavaldiagram

Maximumachievablevelocityofagas

Ultimately,becauseoftheenergyconservationlaw,agasislimitedtoacertainmaximumvelocitybasedonitsenergy
content.Themaximumvelocity,Vmax,thatagascanattainis:

wherecpisthespecificheatofthegasandTtisthestagnationtemperatureoftheflow.

IsentropicflowMachnumberrelationships

Usingconservationslawsandthermodynamics,anumberofrelationshipsoftheform
canbeobtained,whereMistheMachnumberandistheratioofspecificheats(1.4forair).Seetableofisentropic
flowMachnumberrelationships.

Isentropicflowrelationshiptable.
Equationstorelatethefield
propertiesinisentropicflow.

Achievingsupersonicflow

Aspreviouslymentioned,inorderforaflowtobecomesupersonic,itmustpassthroughaductwithaminimumarea,or
sonicthroat.Additionally,anoverallpressureratio,Pb/Pt,ofapproximately2isneededtoattainMach1.Onceithas
reachedMach1,theflowatthethroatissaidtobe"choked."Becausechangesdownstreamcanonlymoveupstreamat
sonicspeed,themassflowthroughthenozzlecannotbeaffectedbychangesindownstreamconditionsaftertheflowis
choked.

Nonisentropic1Dchannelflowofagasnormalshockwaves

Normalshockwavesareshockwavesthatareperpendiculartothelocalflowdirection.Theseshockwavesoccurwhen
pressurewavesbuildupandcoalesceintoanextremelythinshockwavethatconvertsusefulenergyintoheat.Thewaves
thusovertakeandreinforceoneanother,formingafiniteshockwavefromaninfiniteseriesofinfinitesimalsound
waves.Becausealossofenergyoccursoverthethinshockwave,theshockisconsiderednonisentropicandenthalpy
increasesacrosstheshock.Whenanalysinganormalshockwave,onedimensional,steady,andadiabatic(stagnation
temperaturedoesnotchangeacrosstheshockwave)flowofaperfectgasisassumed.

TheRankineHugoniotequations
relateconditionsbeforeandaftera
normalshockwave.

Normalshockwavescanoccurintworeferenceframes:thestandingnormalshockandthemovingshock.Theflow
beforeanormalshockwavemustbesupersonic,andtheflowafteranormalshockmustbesubsonic.TheRankine
Hugoniotequationsareusedtosolvefortheflowconditions..
Twodimensionalflow
Althoughonedimensionalflowcanbedirectlyanalysed,itismerelyaspecializedcaseoftwodimensionalflow.It
followsthatoneofthedefiningphenomenaofonedimensionalflow,anormalshock,islikewiseonlyaspecialcaseofa
largerclassofobliqueshocks.Further,thename"normal"iswithrespecttogeometryratherthanfrequencyof
occurrence.Obliqueshocksaremuchmorecommoninapplicationssuchas:aircraftinletdesign,objectsinsupersonic
flight,and(atamorefundamentallevel)supersonicnozzlesanddiffusers.Dependingontheflowconditions,anoblique
shockcaneitherbeattachedtotheflowordetachedfromtheflowintheformofabowshock.

Bowshockexampleforabluntbody
AttachedshockwaveshownonaX
15Modelinasupersonicwindtunnel

Obliqueshockwaves

Obliqueshockwavesaresimilartonormalshockwaves,buttheyoccuratangles
lessthan90withthedirectionofflow.Whenadisturbanceisintroducedtothe
flowatanonzeroangle(),theflowmustrespondtothechangingboundary
conditions.Thusanobliqueshockisformed,resultinginachangeinthe
directionoftheflow.

Shockpolardiagram

Basedonthelevelofflowdeflection(),obliqueshocksarecharacterizedas
eitherstrongorweak.Strongshocksarecharacterizedbylargerdeflectionand
moreentropylossacrosstheshock,withweakshocksastheopposite.Inorderto Diagramofobstruction
gaincursoryinsightintothedifferencesintheseshocks,ashockpolardiagram
canbeused.Withthestatictemperatureaftertheshock,T*,knownthespeedof
soundaftertheshockisdefinedas,

withRasthegasconstantandasthespecificheatratio.TheMachnumbercan
bebrokenintoCartesiancoordinates
Shockpolardiagram
withVxandVyasthexandycomponentsofthefluidvelocityV.WiththeMachnumberbeforetheshockgiven,a
locusofconditionscanbespecified.Atsomemaxtheflowtransitionsfromastrongtoweakobliqueshock.With=
0,anormalshockisproducedatthelimitofthestrongobliqueshockandtheMachwaveisproducedatthelimitofthe
weakshockwave.

Obliqueshockreflection

Duetotheinclinationoftheshock,afteranobliqueshockiscreated,itcaninteractwithaboundaryinthreedifferent
manners,twowhichareexplainedbelow.

Solidboundary

Incomingflowisfirstturnedbyanglewithrespecttotheflow.Thisshockwaveisreflectedoffthesolidboundary,and
theflowisturnedbytoagainbeparallelwiththeboundary.Itisimportanttonotethateachprogressiveshockwave
isweakerandthewaveangleisincreased.

Irregularreflection

Anirregularreflectionismuchlikethecasedescribedabove,withthecaveatthatislargerthanthemaximum
allowableturningangle.Thusadetachedshockisformedandamorecomplicatedreflectionoccurs.

PrandtlMeyerfans

PrandtlMeyerfanscanbeexpressedasbothcompressionandexpansionfans.PrandtlMeyerfansalsocrossaboundary
layer(i.e.flowingandsolid)whichreactsindifferentchangesaswell.Whenashockwavehitsasolidsurfacethe
resultingfanreturnsasonefromtheoppositefamilywhilewhenonehitsafreeboundarythefanreturnsasafanof
oppositetype.

PrandtlMeyerexpansionfans

Tothispoint,theonlyflowphenomenathathavebeendiscussedareshock
waves,whichslowtheflowandincreaseitsentropy.Itispossibletoaccelerate
supersonicflowinwhathasbeentermedaPrandtlMeyerexpansionfan,after
LudwigPrandtlandTheodoreMeyer.Themechanismfortheexpansionis
showninthefigurebelow.

Asopposedtotheflowencounteringaninclinedobstructionandformingan
obliqueshock,theflowexpandsaroundaconvexcornerandformsanexpansion
fanthroughaseriesofisentropicMachwaves.Theexpansion"fan"iscomposed PrandtlMeyerexpansionfandiagram
ofMachwavesthatspanfromtheinitialMachangletothefinalMachangle.
Flowcanexpandaroundeitherasharporroundedcornerequally,astheincrease
inMachnumberisproportionaltoonlytheconvexangleofthepassage().Theexpansioncornerthatproducesthe
PrandtlMeyerfancanbesharp(asillustratedinthefigure)orrounded.Ifthetotalturningangleisthesame,thentheP
Mflowsolutionisalsothesame.

ThePrandtlMeyerexpansioncanbeseenasthephysicalexplanationoftheoperationoftheLavalnozzle.Thecontour
ofthenozzlecreatesasmoothandcontinuousseriesofPrandtlMeyerexpansionwaves.

PrandtlMeyercompressionfans
APrandtlMeyercompressionistheoppositephenomenontoaPrandtlMeyer
expansion.Iftheflowisgraduallyturnedthroughanangleof,acompression
fancanbeformed.ThisfanisaseriesofMachwavesthateventuallycoalesce
intoanobliqueshock.Becausetheflowisdefinedbyanisentropicregion(flow
thattravelsthroughthefan)andananisentropicregion(flowthattravelsthrough
theobliqueshock),asliplineresultsbetweenthetwoflowregions.

Applications BasicPMcompressiondiagram

Supersonicwindtunnels

Supersonicwindtunnelsareusedfortestingandresearchinsupersonicflows,approximatelyovertheMachnumber
rangeof1.2to5.Theoperatingprinciplebehindthewindtunnelisthatalargepressuredifferenceismaintained
upstreamtodownstream,drivingtheflow.

Supersonicwindtunnelclassificationlist

Windtunnelscanbedividedintotwocategories:continuousoperatingandintermittentoperatingwindtunnels.
Continuousoperatingsupersonicwindtunnelsrequireanindependentelectricalpowersourcethatdrasticallyincreases
withthesizeofthetestsection.Intermittentsupersonicwindtunnelsarelessexpensiveinthattheystoreelectrical
energyoveranextendedperiodoftime,thendischargetheenergyoveraseriesofbrieftests.Thedifferencebetween
thesetwoisanalogoustothecomparisonbetweenabatteryandacapacitor.

Blowdownsupersonicwindtunnel
schematic

Langleyindraftsupersonicwind
tunnelvacuumsphere

BlowdowntypesupersonicwindtunnelsofferhighReynoldsnumber,asmallstoragetank,andreadilyavailabledryair.
However,theycauseahighpressurehazard,resultindifficultyholdingaconstantstagnationpressure,andarenoisy
duringoperation.

Indraftsupersonicwindtunnelsarenotassociatedwithapressurehazard,allowaconstantstagnationpressure,andare
relativelyquiet.Unfortunately,theyhavealimitedrangefortheReynoldsnumberoftheflowandrequirealarge
vacuumtank.Thereisnodisputethatknowledgeisgainedthroughresearchandtestinginsupersonicwindtunnels
however,thefacilitiesoftenrequirevastamountsofpowertomaintainthelargepressureratiosneededfortesting
conditions.Forexample,ArnoldEngineeringDevelopmentComplexhasthelargestsupersonicwindtunnelintheworld
andrequiresthepowerrequiredtolightasmallcityforoperation.Forthisreason,largewindtunnelsarebecomingless
commonatuniversities.

Supersonicaircraftinlets

Perhapsthemostcommonapplicationforobliqueshocksisinhighspeedaircraftinlets.Thepurposeoftheinletisto
slowincomingsupersonicflowtothesubsonicregimebeforeitenterstheturbojetengine,withthecaveatofminimizing
lossesacrosstheshock.Knowledgeofnormalandobliqueshockssuggeststhatthisbeaccomplishedwithaseriesof
weakeningobliqueshocksfollowedbyaveryweaknormalshock,usuallylessthanM=1.4.Thismaysoundrelatively
straightforward,butthereisoneratherlargeissuetobedealtwithwhendesigningasupersonicaircraftinlet:
acceleration.Betweentakingoff,manoeuvring,andcruising,anaircrafttravelsatarangeofMachnumbers.Inorderto
ensureefficientflight,theaircraftintakemustbecapableofvariablegeometry.Ifitisnot,theshockwaveswillnot
reflectproperlythroughtheinletandnegativelyaffectperformance.

McDonnellDouglasF15C Concorde
LockheedSR71Blackbird

Althoughvariablegeometryisauniversallyrecognizedapproachtoimproveaircraftefficiencyandperformanceovera
rangeofMachnumbers,thereisnoonemethodtoachievevariablegeometry.TheF15Eagleemployswedgeinlets
withadjustableflapstocontroltheflow.Forsubsonicflow,theflapsarecompletelyclosedandforsupersonicflow,the
flapsareopen.TheConcordeemployedanexternalcompressioninlet,usingaseriesofobliqueshocksfollowedbya
normalshocktoslowtheflowsufficientlyfortheturbojetengine.Perhapsthemostrecognizablesupersonicaircraft,the
SR71,usedahydraulicallyactuatedconetoreducethespeedofthesupersonicflowthroughtheaircraftinlet.

Naturalgaspipeline

Naturalgaspipelinesareusedtotransportnaturalgasfromextractionsitesto
refinementorchemicalprocessingfacilities.IntheUnitedStatestherearemore
than210naturalgaspipelinesystemswithmorethan305,000miles
(491,000km)ofintrastatetransmissionpipelines.[6]Twocompressibleflow
phenomenacharacterizetheflowthroughthesepipelines:friction(Fannoflow
andRayleighflow)andheattransfer.Naturalgaspipelinesareburiedinthe
groundataconstanttemperatureof15C.However,thefrictiongeneratedby
theflowoffsetstheheatlosstotheEarth,thusresultinginanisothermalflow.
Constructingnaturalgaslinein
winter,Finland
 FrictionfactorasafunctionofMachnumberinFannoflow

TherelationshipbetweenfLmax/DandMachnumberforFannoflowsuggeststhatonlysubsonicflowcanbeusedinthe
longpipesusedtotransportnaturalgas(eventhesepipesmustbebrokenintoshortersegmentswithcompressorstations
atthediscontinuitiesinthepipeline).Additionallyusingconservation,anequationcanbederivedtodescribetheflow.

ThisequationdescribesflowthatchokesatM*=0.87fornaturalgas=1.32howeverchokingrequiresaninfiniteheat
flux.Therefore,acombinationofintuitionandmathematicsexplainswhyitismosteconomicallyfeasiblethatsubsonic
naturalgasispumpedthroughlongsectionsofpipetoreachitsintendeddestination.

Seealso
Conservationlaws
Entropy
Equationofstate
Gaskinetics
Heatcapacityratio
Isentropicnozzleflow
LagrangianandEulerianspecificationoftheflowfield
PrandtlMeyerfunction
Thermodynamicsespecially"CommonlyConsideredThermodynamicProcesses"and"Lawsof
Thermodynamics"

References
1.Butseecompressibilitywhichlistscompressibilitiesforwaterandsomeotherliquids
2.Anderson,J.D.,FundamentalsofAerodynamics,4thEd.,McGrawHill,2007.
3.[1](http://www.ibiblio.org/potto/text.pdf)
4.[2](http://history.nasa.gov/SP4219/Chapter3.html)
5.P.M.Schuster:MovingtheStars:ChristianDopplerHisLife,HisWorksandPrincipleandtheWorldAfter,Pollauberg,
Austria:LivingEditionPublishers,2005
6.http://www.eia.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/ngpipeline/index.html
 Liepmann,HansW.Roshko,A.(1957)[1957].ElementsofGasdynamics.DoverPublications.ISBN0486
419630.
Anderson,JohnD.Jr.(2003)[1982].ModernCompressibleFlow(3rded.).McGrawHill
Science/Engineering/Math.ISBN0072424435.
John,JamesE.Keith,T.G.(2006)[1969].GasDynamics(3rded.).PearsonPrenticeHall.ISBN0131206680.
Oosthuizen,PatrickH.Carscallen,W.E.(2013)[1997].IntroductiontoCompressibleFlow(2nded.).CRC
Press.ISBN1439877912.
Zucker,RobertD.Biblarz,O.(2002)[1977].FundamentalsofGasDynamics(2nded.).Wiley.
ISBN0471059676.
Shapiro,AscherH.(1953).TheDynamicsandThermodynamicsofCompressibleFluidFlow,Volume1.Ronald
Press.ISBN9780471066910.
Anderson,JohnD.Jr.(2000)[1989].HypersonicandHighTemperatureGasDynamics.AIAA.ISBN156347
459X.

Externallinks
NASABeginner'sGuidetoCompressibleAerodynamics(http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K12/airplane/bgc.htm
l)
VirginiaTechCompressibleFlowCalculators(https://engineering.purdue.edu/~wassgren/applet/java/comp_calcul
ator/Index.html)
[3](http://www.dept.aoe.vt.edu/~devenpor/aoe3114/calc.html)

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