Oblique Shock Wave Simulator Back
Compressible Flow Simulator

Oblique Shock Wave Simulator — θ-β-M Relation

Visualize the oblique shock that stands on a wedge in a supersonic stream using the θ-β-M relation. Adjust the upstream Mach, shock angle, specific-heat ratio and inlet pressure to see how the flow-deflection angle, downstream Mach and pressure change.

Parameters
Upstream Mach M_1
Shock angle β
°
Specific-heat ratio γ
Upstream static pressure P_1
kPa

Perfect gas, adiabatic, 1-D, steady flow is assumed. The shock is physical only when M_1n = M_1·sin(β) \gt 1; otherwise the stat values are shown as `—`.

Results
Flow-deflection angle θ
Downstream Mach M_2
Downstream static pressure P_2
Normal shock-component M_1n
Oblique Shock Around a Wedge

Bottom = horizontal upstream (cool color, long arrows = high speed) / red line = oblique shock at angle β / downstream flow turned by θ along the wedge surface (warm color)

θ-β Curves (Several M_1)

x = flow-deflection angle θ / y = shock angle β / lower branch = weak solution, upper branch = strong solution / yellow dot = current (θ, β)

Theory & Key Formulas

An oblique shock is a thin discontinuity inclined at the shock angle β to the upstream flow. Crossing it, the flow is turned by an angle θ. The three quantities are linked by the θ-β-M relation.

θ-β-M relation (gives θ explicitly from M_1 and β):

$$\tan\theta = \frac{2\cot\beta\,(M_1^2\sin^2\beta - 1)}{M_1^2(\gamma + \cos 2\beta) + 2}$$

Normal shock-component M_1n and the downstream normal component M_2n (normal-shock relations applied to M_1n):

$$M_{1n} = M_1\sin\beta, \qquad M_{2n}^2 = \frac{1 + \tfrac{\gamma-1}{2}M_{1n}^2}{\gamma M_{1n}^2 - \tfrac{\gamma-1}{2}}$$

Downstream Mach and pressure ratio (the same form as a normal shock applied to M_1n):

$$M_2 = \frac{M_{2n}}{\sin(\beta - \theta)}, \qquad \frac{P_2}{P_1} = 1 + \frac{2\gamma}{\gamma+1}\bigl(M_{1n}^2 - 1\bigr)$$

A shock is physical only for M_1n \gt 1. For each θ there are two values of β: the smaller is the weak solution, the larger is the strong solution.

What is the Oblique Shock Wave Simulator

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Sometimes I see those crisp slanted lines coming off the wings of a supersonic aircraft in photos. Are those oblique shocks?
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Exactly. Where a normal shock stands perpendicular to the flow, an oblique shock stands at angle β when the supersonic stream meets a wedge or cone, and the flow turns through an angle θ as it crosses the shock. With the simulator's defaults (M_1 = 3, β = 32°, γ = 1.4) the deflection θ comes out to 14.77° and the downstream Mach M_2 = 2.27.
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Wait, the downstream is still supersonic? I thought a shock always made the flow subsonic.
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Sharp question. For an oblique shock, only the normal component M_1n = M_1·sin(β) feels the normal-shock relations; the tangential component slides through unchanged. With the defaults M_1n = 1.59, so the post-shock normal piece M_2n drops to about 0.67, but the surviving tangential piece keeps the total M_2 supersonic at 2.27.
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In the right-hand chart the curves bulge out and then split — what is going on?
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That is the weak/strong solution split. For the same θ and M_1 there are two β values: the lower branch is the weak solution (small β), the upper branch is the strong solution (large β). Real wedge flows almost always pick the weak one. The peak of each curve marks θ_max — beyond that wedge angle the shock detaches from the wedge and becomes a curved bow shock.
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When I crank β below 35° the downstream Mach jumps up, and above that it drops. Why?
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That is the heart of the oblique-shock idea. The smaller β gets, the smaller M_1n becomes, and the weaker the shock — so the downstream Mach barely changes and the pressure rise is modest. As β approaches 90° the shock acts like a normal shock (M_1n = M_1), so M_2 collapses. Supersonic intake design exploits this by chaining several weak oblique shocks to decelerate the flow with minimal stagnation-pressure loss.

Frequently Asked Questions

When β drops below arcsin(1/M_1), the normal component M_1n = M_1·sin(β) falls below 1, so the shock has no physical meaning. This limit β = arcsin(1/M_1) is called the Mach angle and corresponds to the propagation direction of an infinitesimal pressure disturbance (a Mach wave). For M_1n ≤ 1 the simulator shows all stat values as `—` and draws a dashed gray line in place of the red shock.
Setting d(tan θ)/dβ = 0 in the θ-β-M relation analytically gives the β that maximizes θ for each M_1. With γ = 1.4 the maximum deflection is θ_max ≈ 22.97° at M_1 = 2, ≈ 34.07° at M_1 = 3, ≈ 41.12° at M_1 = 5 and asymptotes to ≈ 45.58° as M_1 → ∞. The rightmost peak of each curve in the θ-β plot corresponds to this θ_max, and the curve splits there into the weak (lower) and strong (upper) branches.
There is no attached oblique shock solution beyond θ_max, so the shock detaches and stands as a curved bow shock ahead of the wedge — a detached shock. Along the centerline it acts locally as a normal shock, with extreme stagnation-point pressure and temperature behind it. Re-entry capsules and hypersonic blunt bodies are dominated by such detached bow shocks.
In external flow over open wedges or cones, only the upstream boundary condition fixes the solution and the weak one is almost always chosen. The strong solution shows up in diffusers where high downstream back pressure forces the flow to subsonic. Boundary-layer effects or 3-D corrections may admit a small strong-solution component, but design analyses assume the weak solution. Because the simulator lets you set β directly, you can hop between weak and strong branches and compare them.

Real-World Applications

Multi-shock supersonic intakes: The SR-71 Blackbird, Concorde and F-15 use multi-shock intakes that chain several oblique shocks to decelerate the supersonic stream in stages, finishing with a weak normal shock to land the flow at subsonic. This greatly reduces stagnation-pressure loss compared with a single normal shock and improves engine efficiency. The θ-β-M relation is the core design tool that fixes the ramp angles and shock angles of each stage.

Shock diamonds in supersonic exhaust plumes: The "shock diamonds" or Mach disks visible in rocket and afterburner plumes arise when the exit pressure does not match ambient. An over-expanded exhaust spreads through a Prandtl-Meyer expansion, while an under-expanded one converges through oblique shocks; the two alternate to form the repeating pattern. The angles and strengths of each oblique shock are predicted by the θ-β-M relation.

Hypersonic vehicle aerodynamics: The X-15, SR-71 and recent hypersonic glide vehicles such as HTV-2 and DF-17 develop complex oblique-shock systems around the nose, leading edges and control fins. Shock-shock interactions can spike local heat flux and pressure dramatically and are the hardest part of structural design. Even with full CFD, a quick analytical check from θ-β-M is still standard practice in early design.

Diamond airfoils and supersonic wing sections: Diamond airfoils used on SST aircraft and missiles have sharp wedge-like leading and trailing edges, generating two oblique shocks and two expansion fans on each surface. Computing the deflection angle and shock angle on each face with θ-β-M and integrating the surface pressures to get lift and drag is the essence of "shock-expansion theory" — the foundation of supersonic airfoil aerodynamics.

Common Misconceptions and Cautions

The most common error is to assume that M_2 must be subsonic across an oblique shock. That is true only for a normal shock. Across an oblique shock the tangential component is preserved, so M_2 frequently stays supersonic; the default case (M_1 = 3, β = 32°) gives M_2 = 2.27. M_2 only falls below 1 on the strong branch or as β approaches 90° (the shock becoming nearly normal).

The next pitfall is to believe an oblique shock solution exists for any wedge angle. The θ-β-M relation has a maximum allowable deflection θ_max for each M_1 — beyond it, no attached solution exists and the shock physically detaches into a curved bow shock. In the simulator's right-hand plot the rightmost edge of each curve marks θ_max; nothing exists to the right of it.

Another caution is the difference between specifying β directly vs. specifying θ. In practice you usually know the wedge angle θ and want to back out β, which requires a numerical inversion. This simulator deliberately takes β as the input to avoid that root-find, which has the bonus that you can visit both the weak and the strong β for the same θ. Just keep in mind that real wedge flows live on the weak branch when interpreting the results.