On the Structure of Magnetohydrodynamics Shock Waves in Viscous van der Waals gases

Abstract

An analytical model has been developed to explore the structure of one-dimensional viscous shock waves in the presence of an axial magnetic field assuming the gaseous medium to follow the van der Waals equation of state. The exact solutions for pressure, temperature, fluid velocity and entropy are obtained taking into account the dissipative processes in the shock transition region. The detailed analysis of the structure of shock-front has been presented showing the dependence of the thickness of shock-front on the adiabatic index, the strength of magnetic field, coefficient of viscosity, shock strength and the non-idealness parameter of the gases. The findings are presented in graphical as well as in tabular forms which reveal that the shock-front thickness increases with increasing the strength of magnetic field and the viscous coefficient of gases, whereas it decreases with the increasing value of non-idealness parameter of the gases. Finally, a comparison has been done between the current findings following the van der Waals equation of state and the previously available data following the Anisomov and Spiner equation of state.