The figure below shows the progression of a shock wave pattern around a biconvex airfoil.
The following picture shows the bow shock on a wedge supersonic airfoil at mach 1.7.
Progression of Shocks on an Airfoil:
The speed of sound radiation of waves from a source occur at a characteristic speed (speed of sound), that is a function of the thermodynamic properties of the air. The speed of sound in the air considered as an ideal gas is proportional to the square root of the absolute temperature. This is not the case for high speeds unfortunately, and or for high temperatures. For these circumstances, corrections must be introduced. An impulsive source of sound at rest travels the distance T = 2 f (f = frequency) in the unit of time.
The figure below shows the progression of a shock wave pattern around a biconvex airfoil.
The following picture shows the bow shock on a wedge supersonic airfoil at mach 1.7.
For more information go to : http://aerodyn.org/HighSpeed/waves.html
