Aerothermodynamics

Article By:

Anderson, John D., Jr. National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.

Last reviewed:November 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.013700

A combination of two sciences, fluid mechanics and thermodynamics. Theodore von Kármán defined aerothermodynamics in this way in the 1950s, following G. Arturo Crocco, who introduced the term in 1931. Taken literally, this term includes classical compressible flow. (There is no problem in compressible flow that can be solved without invoking thermodynamics). In more recent times, aerothermodynamics has been associated with high-temperature, chemically reacting flows; however, such flows are simply part of the overall subject of aerothermodynamics. Aerothermodynamics is a broad and important discipline that cuts across all aspects of high-speed flight, combustion processes, high-speed flow in ducts, and any other application that requires the combination of aerodynamics with thermodynamics. See also: Aerodynamics; Compressible flow; Fluid mechanics; Thermodynamic principles

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