1 Mach Speed
Socorro Henson
By definition, at Mach 1, the local flow velocity u is equal to the speed of sound. At Mach 0.65, u is 65% of the speed of sound (subsonic), and, at Mach 1.35, u is 35% faster than the speed of sound (supersonic). Pilots of high-altitude aerospace vehicles use flight Mach number to express a vehicle's true airspeed, but the flow field around a vehicle varies in three dimensions, with corresponding variations in local Mach number.
The local speed of sound, and hence the Mach number, depends on the temperature of the surrounding gas. The Mach number is primarily used to determine the approximation with which a flow can be treated as an incompressible flow. The medium can be a gas or a liquid. The boundary can be travelling in the medium, or it can be stationary while the medium flows along it, or they can both be moving, with different velocities: what matters is their relative velocity with respect to each other. The boundary can be the boundary of an object immersed in the medium, or of a channel such as a nozzle, diffuser or wind tunnel channelling the medium. As the Mach number is defined as the ratio of two speeds, it is a dimensionless quantity. If M
The Mach number is named after the physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach[3] according to a proposal by the aeronautical engineer Jakob Ackeret in 1929.[4] The word Mach is always capitalized since it derives from a proper name, and since the Mach number is a dimensionless quantity rather than a unit of measure, the number comes after the word Mach; the second Mach number is Mach 2 instead of 2 Mach (or Machs). This is somewhat reminiscent of the early modern ocean-sounding unit mark (a synonym for fathom), which was also unit-first, and may have influenced the use of the term Mach. In the decade preceding faster-than-sound human flight, aeronautical engineers referred to the speed of sound as Mach's number, never Mach 1.[5]
While the terms subsonic and supersonic, in the purest sense, refer to speeds below and above the local speed of sound respectively, aerodynamicists often use the same terms to talk about particular ranges of Mach values. This occurs because of the presence of a transonic regime around flight (free stream) M = 1 where approximations of the Navier-Stokes equations used for subsonic design no longer apply; the simplest explanation is that the flow around an airframe locally begins to exceed M = 1 even though the free stream Mach number is below this value.
Meanwhile, the supersonic regime is usually used to talk about the set of Mach numbers for which linearised theory may be used, where for example the (air) flow is not chemically reacting, and where heat-transfer between air and vehicle may be reasonably neglected in calculations.
Generally, NASA defines high hypersonic as any Mach number from 10 to 25, and re-entry speeds as anything greater than Mach 25. Aircraft operating in this regime include the Space Shuttle and various space planes in development.
The subsonic speed range is that range of speeds within which, all of the airflow over an aircraft is less than Mach 1. The critical Mach number (Mcrit) is lowest free stream Mach number at which airflow over any part of the aircraft first reaches Mach 1. So the subsonic speed range includes all speeds that are less than Mcrit.
The transonic speed range is that range of speeds within which the airflow over different parts of an aircraft is between subsonic and supersonic. So the regime of flight from Mcrit up to Mach 1.3 is called the transonic range.
Aircraft designed to fly at supersonic speeds show large differences in their aerodynamic design because of the radical differences in the behavior of flows above Mach 1. Sharp edges, thin aerofoil-sections, and all-moving tailplane/canards are common. Modern combat aircraft must compromise in order to maintain low-speed handling; "true" supersonic designs include the F-104 Starfighter, MiG-31, North American XB-70 Valkyrie, SR-71 Blackbird, and BAC/Arospatiale Concorde.
At transonic speeds, the flow field around the object includes both sub- and supersonic parts. The transonic period begins when first zones of M > 1 flow appear around the object. In case of an airfoil (such as an aircraft's wing), this typically happens above the wing. Supersonic flow can decelerate back to subsonic only in a normal shock; this typically happens before the trailing edge. (Fig.1a)
As the speed increases, the zone of M > 1 flow increases towards both leading and trailing edges. As M = 1 is reached and passed, the normal shock reaches the trailing edge and becomes a weak oblique shock: the flow decelerates over the shock, but remains supersonic. A normal shock is created ahead of the object, and the only subsonic zone in the flow field is a small area around the object's leading edge. (Fig.1b)
When an aircraft exceeds Mach 1 (i.e. the sound barrier), a large pressure difference is created just in front of the aircraft. This abrupt pressure difference, called a shock wave, spreads backward and outward from the aircraft in a cone shape (a so-called Mach cone). It is this shock wave that causes the sonic boom heard as a fast moving aircraft travels overhead. A person inside the aircraft will not hear this. The higher the speed, the more narrow the cone; at just over M = 1 it is hardly a cone at all, but closer to a slightly concave plane.
At fully supersonic speed, the shock wave starts to take its cone shape and flow is either completely supersonic, or (in case of a blunt object), only a very small subsonic flow area remains between the object's nose and the shock wave it creates ahead of itself. (In the case of a sharp object, there is no air between the nose and the shock wave: the shock wave starts from the nose.)
As the Mach number increases, so does the strength of the shock wave and the Mach cone becomes increasingly narrow. As the fluid flow crosses the shock wave, its speed is reduced and temperature, pressure, and density increase. The stronger the shock, the greater the changes. At high enough Mach numbers the temperature increases so much over the shock that ionization and dissociation of gas molecules behind the shock wave begin. Such flows are called hypersonic.
It is clear that any object travelling at hypersonic speeds will likewise be exposed to the same extreme temperatures as the gas behind the nose shock wave, and hence choice of heat-resistant materials becomes important.
As a flow in a channel becomes supersonic, one significant change takes place. The conservation of mass flow rate leads one to expect that contracting the flow channel would increase the flow speed (i.e. making the channel narrower results in faster air flow) and at subsonic speeds this holds true. However, once the flow becomes supersonic, the relationship of flow area and speed is reversed: expanding the channel actually increases the speed.
The obvious result is that in order to accelerate a flow to supersonic, one needs a convergent-divergent nozzle, where the converging section accelerates the flow to sonic speeds, and the diverging section continues the acceleration. Such nozzles are called de Laval nozzles and in extreme cases they are able to reach hypersonic speeds (Mach 13 (15,900 km/h; 9,900 mph) at 20 C).
If the speed of sound is not known, Mach number may be determined by measuring the various air pressures (static and dynamic) and using the following formula that is derived from Bernoulli's equation for Mach numbers less than 1.0. Assuming air to be an ideal gas, the formula to compute Mach number in a subsonic compressible flow is:[9]
As an aircraft moves through the air, the air molecules near theaircraft are disturbed and move around the aircraft. If the aircraft passesat a low speed, typically less than 250 mph, the densityof the air remains constant. But for higher speeds, some of theenergy of the aircraft goes into compressing the air and locallychanging the density of the air. This compressibilityeffect alters the amount of resulting force on the aircraft.The effect becomes more important as speed increases. Near and beyondthe speed of sound, about 330 m/s or 760mph, small disturbances in the flow are transmittedto other locationsisentropically or with constant entropy.But a sharp disturbance generates ashock wave that affects both the lift and drag of an aircraft.
Theratioof the speed of the aircraft to the speedof sound in the gas determines the magnitude of many of the compressibilityeffects. Because of theimportance of this speed ratio, aerodynamicists have designated itwith a special parameter called the Mach number in honor ofErnst Mach, a late 19th century physicist who studied gasdynamics. The Mach number M allows us to define flight regimes in whichcompressibility effects vary.
The Mach number appears as asimilarity parameterin many of the equations forcompressible flows,shock waves,andexpansions.When wind tunnel testing, you must closely match the Mach number betweenthe experiment and flight conditions.It is completely incorrect to measure a dragcoefficient at some low speed (say 200 mph) and apply that dragcoefficient at twice the speed of sound (approximately 1400 mph, Mach= 2.0). The compressibility of the air alters the importantphysics between these two cases.
The Mach number depends on the speed of sound in the gas andthe speed of sound depends on the type of gas andthe temperature of the gas. The speed of sound varies fromplanet to planet. On Earth,the atmosphere is composed ofmostly diatomic nitrogen and oxygen, and the temperaturedepends on the altitude in a rather complex way.Scientists and engineers have created amathematical model of the atmosphere to helpthem account for the changing effects of temperature with altitude.Mars also has an atmosphere composed ofmostly carbon dioxide. There is a similarmathematical model of the Martian atmosphere.We have created anatmospheric calculatorto let you study the variation of sound speed with planet andaltitude.
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