Mach wave



In shock wave if sufficient Mach waves are present at any location. Thus it is possible to have shockless compression or expansion in a supersonic flow by having the production of Mach waves sufficiently spaced (cf isentropic compression in supersonic flows). A Mach wave is a kind of weak shock wave caused by a small disturbance in the flow. They propagate across the flow at an angle \mu = arcsin(1/M). \,