Transonic Aerodynamics

As the name implies, transonic aerodynamics is concerned with the flow phenomena that exist where the velocities are in the neighborhood of the local speed of sound. Since it is in this regime that civil aircraft cruise and military aircraft maneuver, flight at transonic speeds is a common occurrence for many aircraft. In order to develop efficient designs it is necessary to understand the changes in the aerodynamic behavior that occur at transonic speeds. Since 1968 development in prediction methods has been rapid and, together with the impetus given by the cost of fuel to the design of efficient aircraft, has led to great advances in understanding the nature of transonic flow. In spite of this growth in knowledge, no book has appeared that surveys the advances in the subject. This book is an attempt to fill that void. For reasons of space only steady transonic flows are considered, although it is unfortunate that the recent advances in both the experimental and theoretical treatment of unsteady transonic flows have had to be neglected. The book is divided into three parts: the first consists of review articles, the second of case histories of the use of prediction methods in a design environment, and the third considers some possible alternatives to existing numerical prediction methods.