Abstract
This paper presents an approximate solution for the equilibrium inviscid flow in the shock layer about the stagnation region of a blunt body generating a spherical shock wave. With the assumptions of thin shock layer and strong shock, the flow variables are expanded in series in powers of the ratio of the density ahead of the shock to that behind the shock (ε). The results are obtained in closed formulae to second order in ε. The effects of altitude and velocity enter solely through the normal-shock density ratio appropriate to the flight conditions. Comparison of the present results with those based upon an exact numerical solution shows reasonable agreement.
