Noncontradictory method of calculating radiation transfer, and problem of shock wave structure

Detail numerical calculations of equations of radiation transport and gas dynamics for a steady shock wave in air done by Zinn and Anderson have shown that for waves with amplitude near the critical point the iteration process does not converge to a final solution. This would seem to indicate that supercritical steady-state shock waves cannot exist. The problem of shock wave structure is analyzed with consideration of radiant heat exchange in the one-dimensinal steady state in a coordinate system fixed to the wavefront. The iteration procedure used in solving the problem eliminated the possibility of contradiction by matching the computational procedure with the factors that do not allow the temperature at any point in front of the shock to rise above the temperature behind the wavefront. The procedure yields temperature distribution in complete qualitative agreement with predictions of analytical theory, unambiguously demonstrating the fundamental possibility of existence of supercritical waves.