On the flow of a compressible fluid by the hodograph method I : unification and extension of present-day results

Elementary basic solutions of the equations of motion of a compressible fluid in the hodograph variables are developed and used to provide a basis for comparison, in the form of velocity correction formulas, of corresponding compressible and incompressible flows. The known approximate results of Chaplygin, Von Karman and Tsien, Temple and Yarwood, and Prandtl and Glauert are unified by means of the analysis of the present paper. Two new types of approximations, obtained from the basic solutions, are introduced; they possess certain desirable features of the other approximations and appear preferable as a basis for extrapolation into the range of high stream Mach numbers and large disturbances to the main stream. Tables and figures giving velocity and pressure-coefficient correction factors are included in order to facilitate the practical application of the results.