0 a sudden wave of increased pressure or temperature, caused by an explosion, an earthquake, or an object moving faster than the speed of sound --
1 a strong reaction within a group of people to an upsetting piece of news: --
2 a sudden increase in pressure or temperature caused by an explosion or other violent or fast movement: --
The bomb’s shock wave tore the windshield off the truck.
At a certain critical flow rate, however, the bow shock wave begins to bulge out (see figure 8c, plate 1).
As a result of these pressure variations, an inward facing, second shock wave exists in the spherical flow field.
The generation of a well-formed fourth shock wave is therefore even less likely.
The shock wave is in general curved and the post-shock flow in general non-parallel.
When it reaches the face of the piston it will again be reflected and the shock wave will return to the closed end.
As the piston continues to gain speed, the shock wave will become stronger.
If a wall is placed normal to the expanding flow, a shock wave will reflect from it.
The presence of this shock wave results in a high drag coefficient compared with that of a pointed body with an attached nose shock wave.
