Unsteady Motion of Continuous Media

Book excerpt: Unsteady Motion of Continuous Media covers the technical applications in the study of rapidly occurring processes in unsteady motion of continuous media. This 15-chapter text focuses on the detonation and explosion processes. The introductory chapters review the mathematical and thermodynamic methods of gas dynamics, as well as the fundamental equations of non-stationary gas dynamics. The succeeding chapters deal with the concept of self-similar motion, solutions of equations, one-dimensional isentropic motions, and the elementary theory of shock waves. Considerable chapters are devoted to the mechanisms and principles of detonation wave, its propagation and unsteady motion in condensed media. These topics are followed by discussions of the propulsion of bodies by a gas stream; the motion of gas in a gravitational field; and the limiting motion of rarefield and very dense media. The concluding chapter presents some problems in the relativistic mechanics of solid medium. This book will prove useful to physicists, applied mathematicians, and chemical engineers.