Supersonic flow of a vibrationally relaxing gas past a circular cone

The steady supersonic flow of a vibrationally relaxing gas past a cone is studied using numerical methods. Near the tip of the cone the flow is obtained by means of a coordinate expansion and built on to this is a characteristic network used to obtain the remainder of the flow. Of particular interest is the development of the frozen shock at the tip into a relaxation-dominated wave at distances large compared with the width of the wave. The numerical results are presented in a concise similarity form which will permit accurate extrapolation to very weak waves in atmospheric air.