Chapter Two

Fundamental Aspects of Compressible Flow

Dr. Tahseen Ahmad Tahseen
Question One
Suppose that a cruise missile under test is moving horizontally at M = 2, in the atmosphere at an
elevation of 305 m above the earth's surface. How long does it take for an observer on the ground
to hear the disturbance from the instant when it is directly overhead? Assume standard atmosphere
(15 oC). Ans. t = 0.777 sec.

Question Two
Air at a temperature of -10 oC flows through a supersonic wind
tunnel. A shadowgraph photograph of the flow reveals weak
waves originating at imperfections on the wall. These weak
waves are at angle of 40o to the low as shown in the figure. Find
the Mach number and velocity in the wind tunnel. Ans. M =
1.556, V = 505.5 m/s

Question Three
An aircraft is flying at an altitude of 6 km at a Mach number of 3. Find the distance behind the aircraft
at which the disturbance created by the aircraft reach sea-level.

Question Four: At a given instant of time, two pressure

waves, each moving at the speed of sound, emitted by a point
source moving with constant velocity in a fluid at rest are
shown in Figure Q4. Determine the Mach number involved
and indicate with a sketch the instantaneous location of the
point source.

Question Five: At a given instant of time, two pressure

waves, each moving at the speed of sound, emitted by a point
source moving with constant velocity in a fluid at rest, are
shown in Figure Q5. Determine the Mach number involved
and indicate with a sketch the instantaneous location of the
point source.