An Experimental Investigation of Transonic Flow Past Two-dimensional Wedge and Circular-arc Sections Using a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

Arthur Earl Bryson

jan 1951 · National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

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Interferometer measurements are given of the flow fields near two-dimensional wedge and circular-arc sections at zero angle of attack. Pressure distributions and drag coefficients as functions of Mach number were obtained and the wedge data are compared with theory. It is shown that the local Mach number at any point on the surface of a finite three dimensional body or an unswept two-dimensional body, moving through an infinite fluid, has a stationary value at Mach number 1 and, in fact, remains nearly constant for a range of speeds below and above Mach number 1. On the basis of this concept and the experimental data, pressure distributions and drag coefficients for the wedge and circular-arc sections are presented throughout the entire transonic range of velocities.