RUS  ENG
Full version
JOURNALS // Vestnik Tomskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta. Matematika i Mekhanika // Archive

Vestn. Tomsk. Gos. Univ. Mat. Mekh., 2025 Number 94, Pages 79–92 (Mi vtgu1152)

MECHANICS

The use of the principle of least action in a study of ideal gas flow in subsonic parts of a nozzle

G. I. Afonin, A. G. Afonin

Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russian Federation

Abstract: The principle of least action is formulated for a steady flow of an inviscid non-heat conducting ideal gas in an axisymmetric channel of variable cross section. The problem on the minimum of action for a steady flow is reduced to a variational problem on the minimum of the Lagrangian in an arbitrary cross section at a given flow rate. Using the obtained optimality condition, a marching method is constructed to derive the flow parameters and channel shape both downstream and upstream relative to a conditional initial section referred to as the “inlet” section, where the flow parameters and gas flow rate in the channel are preliminarily determined by specifying the slope of the streamlines. After this, the structure of the optimal (in accordance with the principle of least action) channel contour is numerically studied.

Keywords: ideal gas, principle of least action, variational problem, optimality condition (Euler equation), boundary extreme value, energy conservation law.

UDC: 533.6.011.34

Received: 15.10.2024
Accepted: April 10, 2025

DOI: 10.17223/19988621/94/7



© Steklov Math. Inst. of RAS, 2026