Best gas dynamics books according to redditors
We found 24 Reddit comments discussing the best gas dynamics books. We ranked the 12 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 24 Reddit comments discussing the best gas dynamics books. We ranked the 12 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
/u/another_user_name posted this list a while back. Actual aerospace textbooks are towards the bottom but you'll need a working knowledge of the prereqs first.
Non-core/Pre-reqs:
Mathematics:
Calculus.
1-4) Calculus, Stewart -- This is a very common book and I felt it was ok, but there's mixed opinions about it. Try to get a cheap, used copy.
1-4) Calculus, A New Horizon, Anton -- This is highly valued by many people, but I haven't read it.
1-4) Essential Calculus With Applications, Silverman -- Dover book.
More discussion in this reddit thread.
Linear Algebra
3) Linear Algebra and Its Applications,Lay -- I had this one in school. I think it was decent.
3) Linear Algebra, Shilov -- Dover book.
Differential Equations
4) An Introduction to Ordinary Differential Equations, Coddington -- Dover book, highly reviewed on Amazon.
G) Partial Differential Equations, Evans
G) Partial Differential Equations For Scientists and Engineers, Farlow
More discussion here.
Numerical Analysis
5) Numerical Analysis, Burden and Faires
Chemistry:
Physics:
2-4) Physics, Cutnel -- This was highly recommended, but I've not read it.
Programming:
Introductory Programming
Programming is becoming unavoidable as an engineering skill. I think Python is a strong introductory language that's got a lot of uses in industry.
Core Curriculum:
Introduction:
Aerodynamics:
Thermodynamics, Heat transfer and Propulsion:
Flight Mechanics, Stability and Control
5+) Flight Stability and Automatic Control, Nelson
5+)[Performance, Stability, Dynamics, and Control of Airplanes, Second Edition](http://www.amazon.com/Performance-Stability-Dynamics-Airplanes-Education/dp/1563475839/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315534435&sr=8-1, Pamadi) -- I gather this is better than Nelson
Engineering Mechanics and Structures:
3-4) Engineering Mechanics: Statics and Dynamics, Hibbeler
6-8) Analysis and Design of Flight Vehicle Structures, Bruhn -- A good reference, never really used it as a text.
G) Introduction to the Mechanics of a Continuous Medium, Malvern
G) Fracture Mechanics, Anderson
G) Mechanics of Composite Materials, Jones
Electrical Engineering
Design and Optimization
Space Systems
Easiest introduction (too simple, but a great overview):
http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-plasma-physics-controlled-fusion/dp/0306413329/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404973723&sr=8-1&keywords=francis+chen+plasma
Better introduction (actually has real mathematics, this is like the Chen book but better for people who want to learn actual plasma physics because it doesn't baby you):
http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Plasma-Physics-R-J-Goldston/dp/075030183X/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404973766&sr=8-1&keywords=goldston+plasma
Great introduction, and FREE:
http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/plasma/plasma.html
Good magnetohydronamics book:
http://www.amazon.com/Ideal-MHD-Jeffrey-P-Freidberg/dp/1107006252/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404974045&sr=8-1&keywords=ideal+magnetohydrodynamics
Great waves book:
http://www.amazon.com/Waves-Plasmas-Thomas-H-Stix/dp/0883188597/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404974079&sr=8-1&keywords=stix+waves
Computational shit because half of plasma physics is computing that shit:
http://www.amazon.com/Computational-Plasma-Physics-Applications-Astrophysics/dp/0813342112/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1404974113&sr=8-2&keywords=tajima+plasma
http://www.amazon.com/Plasma-Physics-Computer-Simulation-Series/dp/0750310251/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404974148&sr=8-1&keywords=birdsall+langdon
Then there are also great papers, and I posted some links to papers in a previous post, but if you're asking to start, you want to start with Chen (and if it's too simple for you, move onto Fitzpatrick or Goldston). I also forgot to mention that Bellan and Ichimaru also have great books for introductory plasma physics.
EDIT:
I'd also like to add that I love you because this subreddit almost never ever mentions plasma physics.
You should avoid choking the flow if possible. If you're stuck with a certain mass flow rate, try opening up the area to reduce the velocity (and thus Mach Number). The resulting shock formation will cause significant pressure loss. See the relations from NASA here: Normal Shock Relations. You'll find more detailed info here
For a slightly supersonic Mach number (M = 1.1) with flow terminating at a Normal Shock and assuming air under ideal conditions (gamma = 1.40), you can expect a total pressure loss across the shock of about 0.2% which is probably not a major problem. But this rises quickly for higher Mach Numbers. Check out this calculator if you want to try your own numbers.
For reference, you get a ~10% loss in total pressure at a Mach number of 1.58.
You should be able to assume isentropic flow everywhere but the shock (for which you can use shock relations to go from one isentropic region to the next). Pick up a copy of Anderson's Modern Compressible Flow if you want to learn more in depth.
Then get ready to have your socks knocked off. I'm a plasma physicist.
My entire career is studying plasmas.
There are actually a few of us over at /r/askscience.
Want to know more about the topic?
How much math do you know? A lot? Cool. Check out Chen's Intro to Plasma Physics book. It's what most all physics students are introduced to the topic through.
Not a physics or math major? No problem. I really recommend Eliezer's book The Fourth State of Matter. It's written for anyone that wants to know more about the state of matter that makes up 99% of the universe and is pretty math free.
I actually gave my parents a copy when I told them what I was going to graduate school for.
The American Physical Society (APS), the big professional organization for physicists all over the US, even has a special Division of Plasma Physics (DPP). Check out the site, especially the "links" and "education and outreach" sections for more info.
Send me a PM if you ever want to talk about it.
You might find Seitzman's lecture notes to be helpful.
http://seitzman.gatech.edu/classes/ae3450/
http://seitzman.gatech.edu/classes/ae3450/outline.html
When I took 3450, we used the blue and orange book (probably the one Jagoda is pulling questions from). It's actually selected sections from two separate books compiled specifically for that course. I thought the second half about gas dynamics was pretty good, so you might want to look for that as well.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0131206680
If it's any consolation, the gas dynamics portion of the class isn't hard so much as incredibly tedious. Just a couple monster equations and the rest is just ratios. Figure out which ratios you need and how to manipulate them and you'll be good to go.
Aside from that, study and pray to the curve. Good luck!
Interesting, I have this book. It's actually pretty good, although it is definitely aimed at breadth, and not depth. It goes over some basic principles, but the main thrust (hyuk hyuk) of the book is to discuss the properties of rocket plumes, themselves, and some of the analytical codes that are available to model them. It goes into decent coverage, but it is definitely a survey book. But for only $30, it's not a bad buy.
Amazon Link
Typically fuel-rich combustion processes will show signs of afterburning. One thing to note is that combustion does not emit solely in the visible spectrum. A very good book to read about rocket plumes is by Simmons: [http://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Exhaust-Plume-Phenomenology-Simmons/dp/188498908X]. I actually think it is the only book/resource I ever found about rocket plumes that wasn't sensitive.
It is one of the few books that openly published technical characteristics of rocket plume behavior. It is a very good book. Although the book focuses mainly on how plumes are formed, you can tell that the book hints at how to interpret rocket characteristics from rocket plume behavior, that is propellant combination, pressure, thrust, altitude. I think the book also talks about distinguishing oil pipeline fires from ballistic missile launches. It's quite interesting.
Also on the molecular fluids front, we have:
Allen and Tildesley "Computer Simulation of Liquids".
Bird "Molecular Gas Dynamics and the Direct Simulation of Gas Flows".
On one's shelf beside Batchelor, it can also be handy to have:
Chandrasekhar "Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Stability".
They probably get cited too often as the best fluid mechanics books (at least for aerospace purposes), but John Anderson's books are a really good set to learn from as they have a really nice, linear progression of info. If you get several of them, you'll probably notice a fair bit of overlap in the early chapters since they're written to be pretty self-contained.
Jack Moran's book is also a really good intro and lead-up to computational approaches, with Laney providing a good second step down that line.
I used Blundell and Blundell for a senior level statmech course and really enjoyed it.
Thanks for compiling all the links to those books. As for the two you couldn't find here are my best guesses:
Cancer
"2 Galaxies"
I also found links to the rest of the Course Material:
Heat and Thermodynamics - Zemansky
Thermodynacis, Kinetic Theory, Statistcal Mechanics - Sears
Kinetic Theory of Gases - Kennard
Thermodynamcis: An Advanced Treatment - Guggenheim
(Couldn't Find) Electricity and Electromagnetism - Hornell
Elements of the Theory of Functions
Advanced Calculus
Complex Analysis - Lars Alfors
Introduction to Electric Fields - Rogers
Electromagnetics - Krans
Communication Circuits Fundamentals - Smith
When I took plasma physics as an undergrad we used Chen's book. Pre-requisites would be a real E&M course (using vector calc) and some related knowledge of fluids.
well you can read course curriculums, hell you can take all of MIT's aerospace engineering courses online for free im sure. they have lectures and exams available.
high level textbooks...after the calculus/physics ones?
http://www.amazon.com/Aircraft-Structures-Dover-Aeronautical-Engineering/dp/0486485803
http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Space-Dynamics-Aeronautical-Engineering/dp/0486651134/ref=pd_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=514GSwPXTEL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR101%2C160_&refRID=1Z881GSF57615HXRYT1N
http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Aerodynamics-5th-John-Anderson/dp/0073398101/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1463955973&sr=1-2&keywords=aerodynamics
http://www.amazon.com/Gas-Dynamics-3rd-James-John/dp/0131206680/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1463956004&sr=1-1&keywords=gas+dynamics
important math is just calculus, differential equations, linear algebra. arguably algebra and trigonometry are the most used and needed to master.
no knowledge of any engineering is required for engineering students coming in.
btw astronomy is basically useless unless you want to do planetary science...orbital mechanics is a separate field
There are several courses that ARO (usually) has, but ME exclusive program doesn't, such as Gas Dynamics, Low/High Speed Aerodynamics, Orbital Mechanics, Aircraft Stability, and Jet Propulsion. I based this statement from the school (CalPoly Pomona) that I went to. YMMV.
Book recommendations:
Aerospace is broad subject, you haven't specified whether you're interested in structures, aerodynamics, flight mechanics, or propulsion. I gave you a broad list of selection to reflect that, although I assume you are more inclined toward Astronautics (Space) part of Aerospace instead of Aeronautics (Air); hence you posted your question in /r/space.
This is the book I learned from
buy that and forget the course! :)
For thermo/stat mech, the standard undergraduate texts are Schroeder (http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Thermal-Physics-Daniel-Schroeder/dp/0201380277), and I guess Blundell & Blundell (http://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Thermal-Physics-Stephen-Blundell/dp/0199562105).
For Quantum Physics the standard undergradate books are the quantum mechanics books by Shankar, Griffiths, and sometimes Messiah. I personally didn't like any of them, I learned from Cohen-Tannoudji but it is more difficult mathematically. For more advanced books you can look at Sakurai or Landau's book.
There is no real standard book that I'm aware of for Nuclear/subnuclear physics for undergrads (because it is really a graduate level book). But I think Griffiths has a book on particle physics if you like his quantum mechanics book. He does like to talk alot though just so you know.
Haha, one of the last pages of Blundell and Blundell has a derivation for the radiative forcing formula. We didn't do this chapter with Statphys 1 though. Would have solved my doubts 2 years earlier.
Very good book on thermal physics though, only thing it missed in my eyes was the 1D Ising model. Amazon
And I have a book for you, my well-heeled friend.
This should help you with your prose, which is a little pedantic.
Also this
because you kind of come off a little bit abrasive, you know with the condescending tone, and the thesaurus driven name calling and such. I am sure it is just a result of your giant brain being squeezed too tightly by your unfortunately semian skull. Anyway, if you ever decide that you actually want to learn stuff about fire balls beyond the basics (where you show gross conceptual errors), check out Zeldovich and Razier, a book we used in an actual graduate physics class.
Example
Course: Intro to Gas Dynamics
Textbook: Modern Compressible Flow with historical perspective, John D. Anderson Jr.
How useful is this textbook for future courses as a reference? Should I buy it new or used?