THE ANALYTICAL SOLUTION OF AN UNSTEADY GAS-FLOW WITH SHOCKS

A one-dimensional unsteady gas flow induced by an impulsive motion of a piston is studied by using a method of characteristics. The flow pat tern in the nonisentropic flow region has been determined along partic le paths emerging from the front shock into the region and along the p ositive characteristics emerging from the piston. The analytical solut ion obtained here enables us to determine the locations of the moving shock boundaries. It is found that the solution, which is also numeric ally computed and graphically presented, provides a good beginning tow ard the exact description of shock dynamics.