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Abstract

Supersonic flow in a nonconducting fluid can give rise to shock waves, i.e., surfaces at which the pressure, density, and stream velocity change abruptly over a short distance. This distance, i.e., the front thickness of the shock wave, is determined by dissipative processes such as viscosity and thermal conductivity. In a gas the thickness of the shock front is of the order of a mean free path.

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© 1972 Plenum Press, New York

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Frank-Kamenetskii, D.A. (1972). Shock Waves in Plasmas. In: Plasma: The Fourth State of Matter. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1896-5_43

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1896-5_43

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-1898-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-1896-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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