On the stability of stationary shock waves in nozzle flows with homogeneous condensation

The stability limit of stationary normal shock waves in supercritical nozzle flows with homogeneous condensation is investigated by the singularity theory of the quasi-one-dimensional steady-state differential equations of motion. In this case it is shown that a catastrophic change in the phase portraits of the flow variables, where the spiral point turns into a nodal point, occurs when the initial relative humidity exceeds a critical value, resulting in the alteration of the quasi-one-dimensional steady-state condensation structures. In particular, a criterion for the limit of stability, based on the break-up of structural stability of the steady equations of motion in the quasi-one-dimensional approximation, is established by variational analysis and a correlation for the critical initial relative humidity is derived for fixed nozzle geometry keeping appropriate reservoir conditions fixed in the same approximation. A comparison of the values of the critical initial relative humidity, calculated by this correlation, shows excellent agreement with those of experiments and/or numerical simulations for moist air expansions in various slender nozzles under different reservoir conditions. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.