DIFFRACTION OF A HYDROMAGNETIC WAVE BY A HALF PLANE

Technical Report · Fri Sep 30 04:00:00 EDT 1960

OSTI ID:4071421

Gardner, C S

The diffraction of a week hydromagnetic shock wave by a rigid perfectly conducting half plane is considered. The medium is assumed to be a penfect compressible fluid with penfect electrical conductivity, permeated by a uniform magnetic field. The medium occupies the space outside a rigid perfectly conducting half plane. The reflected and diffracted waves resulting after an innident weak shock wave strikes the half plane are determined in the linear or acoustic approximation. The problem is solved by means of an extension of the conical-fiald method, which is well known in the lineariznd theory of supersonic aerodynamics. The case where the undisturbed magnetic field is parallel to the half-plane obstacle is discussed. The results show the development in time, toward the ultimate steady state, of the phenomena associated with the reflection of a wave from a full plane. In this way a peculiar feature of hydromagnetic waves is elucidated; namely, that sometimes the reflected wave is on what appears to be the wrong side of the obstacle, the opposite side from the incident wave. (auth)

• Research Organization: New York Univ., New York. Inst. of Mathematical Sciences
• NSA Number: NSA-15-011768
• OSTI ID: 4071421
• Report Number(s): NYO-9354; MF-6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

AERODYNAMICS
CONFIGURATION
DIFFRACTION
FLUIDS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
PHYSICS
REFLECTION
ULTRASONICS