The Polytropic Expansion of Air Through a Convergent Nozzle at Infinite Pressure Ratio—An Interesting Anomaly

Abstract

SummaryPrevious papers have examined the implications of an assumed polytropic expansion law on the performance of nozzles. In this paper a peculiar anomaly is examined when the convergent nozzle is exhausting into a vacuum. It is shown that, on the strict assumptions of a polytropic expansion law, and the assumption that the flow will maximise for a given throat area, the thrust per pound of air increases progressively with falling polytropic efficiency, becoming infinite when the polytropic efficiency is zero. The author suggests that this anomaly is either concerned with the assumption that the flow will maximise or means that polytropic expansion efficiencies below a certain limit are theoretically impossible, but he believes that there may be some other explanation.