Interaction of a centered isentropic compression wave with the bow shock ahead of a body in a rarefied gas

Rarefied gas flow with a centered isentropic compression wave is investigated using direct Monte Carlo simulation of the solution of the Boltzmann equation. For monatomic gas flow the pattern of formation of a suspended compression shock near the geometric center of the compression wave is considered. The flow pattern is compared with the results obtained within the framework of gas dynamics. For a diatomic gas the interference of a centered compression wave with the bow shock ahead of a cylinder is investigated. The dependence of the pressure and the heat transfer to the surface on the Reynolds number and the wave center position relative to the cylinder center is analyzed. The results are compared with those of numerical simulation of the Euler and boundary-layer equations.