Test of a new heat-flow equation for dense-fluid shock waves

Using a recently proposed equation for the heat-flux vector that goes beyond Fourier's Law of heat conduction, we model shockwave propagation in the dense Lennard-Jones fluid. Disequilibrium among the three components of temperature, namely, the difference between the kinetic temperature in the direction of a planar shock wave and those in the transverse directions, particularly in the region near the shock front, gives rise to a new transport (equilibration) mechanism not seen in usual one-dimensional heat-flow situations. The modification of the heat-flow equation was tested earlier for the case of strong shock waves in the ideal gas, which had been studied in the past and compared to Navier-Stokes-Fourier solutions. Now, the Lennard-Jones fluid, whose equation of state and transport properties have been determined from independent calculations, allows us to study the case where potential, as well as kinetic contributions are important. The new heat-flow treatment improves the agreement with nonequilibrium molecular-dynamics simulations under strong shock wave conditions, compared to Navier-Stokes.