Transonic aerodynamics of dense gases

Abstract

Transonic flow of dense gases for two-dimensional, steady state, flow over a NACA 0012 airfoil was predicted analytically. The computer code used to model the dense gas behavior was a modified version of Jameson's FLOS2 airfoil code. The modifications to the code enabled modeling the dense gas behavior near the saturated vapor curve and critical pressure region where the fundamental derivative, Γ, is negative. This negative Γ region is of interest because the nonclassical gas behavior such as formation and propagation of expansion shocks, and the disintegration of inadmissible compression shocks. The results of this study indicated that dense gases with undisturbed thermodynamic states in the negative Γ region show a significant reduction in the extent of the transonic regime as compared to that predicted by the perfect gas theory. The results of the thesis support existing theories and predictions of the nonclassical, dense gas behavior from previous investigations.