Acceleration of Slender Bodies of Revolution through Sonic Velocity

Abstract

The linearized theory of slender bodies in arbitrary motion at zero angle of attack has been worked out. The results have been applied to a smooth body accelerating uniformly through sonic velocity. The results theory can be used to estimate the nonlinear or transonic effects. For an accelerating body, the parameter (bl/c^2)^½ is important where 2b = acceleration, 2l = length of body, c = sound speed at infinity. For sufficiently high (bl/c^2)^½, transonic effects can be neglected. Using linearized theory to estimate the ratio of nonlinear terms in the differential equation gives λ= (nonlinear terms/significant linear terms) = 3/4 (γ+1) δ^2/(bl/c^2)^(1/2) {log2/δ^2 (c^2/bl)^(1/2) − 9/4} , where δ = thickness ratio of body. The result above is evaluated at the maximum thickness of a symmetric parabolic arc body at the instant it passes through sonic velocity. For λ<1 transonic effects can be neglected while for λ>1 they begin to dominate. For practical applications the result shows that there is a possibility of a sufficiently long and slender missile accelerating fast enough to avoid transonic effects (e.g., 50 feet long, 5 percent thick, 3g acceleration). For conventional aircraft, transonic effects will dominate. An interesting side result is that when the acceleration is sufficiently large so that transonic effects do not matter the drag coefficient near sonic speed is independent of the acceleration (C_D≐3δ^2 for parabolic arc body).