Laminar Boundary Layer Behind a Strong Shock Moving into Air

The laminar wall boundary layer behind a strong shock advancing into stationary air has been determined. Numerical results have been obtained for shock Mach numbers up to 14 using real gas values for density and viscosity and assuming Prandtl and Lewis numbers of 0.72 and 1, respectively. The numerical results for shear and heat transfer agree, within 4 percent, with a previously presented approximate analytical expression for these quantities. A slight modification of this expression results in agreement with the numerical data to within 2.5 percent. Analytical expressions for boundary-layer thickness and displacement thickness, correct to within 4 percent for the present data, have also been obtained.