Nonuniform propagation of sonic discontinuities through thermally conducting gases

Solutions of fundamental differential equations for nonuniform propagation of sonic discontinuities through thermally conducting gases are derived and discussed on the basis of Elcrat's (1977) results on the uniform propagation of sonic discontinuities in an unsteady flow of a perfect gas. A moving singularity surface is considered across which the field variables are continuous but their derivatives may be discontinuous. A basic differential equation is derived for the growth and decay of weak discontinuities associated with the wave surface. A criterion for decay or blow-up for sonic discontinuities is also obtained.