Condensation in Supersonic and Hypersonic Wind Tunnels

Publisher Summary In an isentropic expansion of a vapor mixture, the entropy of individual components is not necessarily constant. In an expansion of moist air, the presence of water vapor may be neglected until condensation occurs. The relative humidity of moist air during an expansion in a supersonic nozzle increases rapidly with increasing Mach number. Saturation—with respect to equilibrium conditions—is reached for all normal humidities ahead of a nozzle throat. The shocklike disturbances and pressure nonuniformities, which are seen near the throat of a supersonic nozzle operated with moist air, are because of the condensation of the water vapor and the attendant heat release in the flow. Actual condensation is nearly always observed at supersonic speeds, which demonstrates that before condensing, the water vapor is in a highly supersaturated state. Finally, it is apparent that the prediction of condensation effects in nozzles operated with moist air is a subject for kinetic theory. However, once the condensation environment is known, thermodynamic and fluid dynamic considerations will be applicable.

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