On the possibility of complete condensation shock waves in retrograde fluids

Abstract

Shock discontinuities for which the upstream state is vapour and the downstream state is liquid are considered. The possibility of such shock waves is associated with a large number of molecular degrees of freedom: it is necessary that the ideal-gas specific heat c v [ges ] 24 R at the critical temperature, a condition which is met by several common fluids. Shock properties are found from a corresponding-states thermodynamic model and from several calculations based on data for particular fluids. Condensation shock waves satisfy the usual stability conditions and should be found in laboratory experiments.