The behaviour of supersonic flow past a body of revolution, far from the axis

Abstract

A theory is developed of the supersonic flow past a body of revolution at large distances from the axis, where a linearized approximation is valueless owing to the divergence of the characteristics at infinity. It is used to find the asymptotic forms of the equations of the shocks which are formed from the neighbourhoods of the nose and tail. In the special case of a slender pointed body, the general theory at large distances is used to modify the linearized approximation to give a theory which is uniformly valid at all distances from the axis. The results which are of physical importance are summarized in the conclusion (§ 9) and compared with the results of experimental observations.