Symmetrical flow past a double wedge is studied for a high subsonic Mach number. The main features of the flow field are discussed in the physical and the hodograph plane. It is shown how a regular solution to the hodograph equation exhibits limit lines in the physical plane, which are eliminated through a ‘cut’ corresponding to the shock wave. In the case of the wedge it is assumed that the shock which is likely to be the most stable is the weakest possible.

The boundary-value problem is solved in the hodograph plane using Telenin's method, which has proved to be successful when dealing with equations of mixed type. The bounded analytic solution which is thus constructed is regular in the hodograph plane but presents three folds in the physical plane.

The computation is carried out for flow past a 4·5° half-angle wedge at a Mach number M∞ = 0·89. These figures are chosen so that the problem may be justifiably treated by potential theory, the entropy gradient behind the shock being negligible. In this case the mapping of the solution into the physical plane gives the pressure distribution along the double wedge, the sonic line and the shock wave. Of particular interest is the point where the sonic line meets the shock. This configuration is in agreement with the hypothesis of Nocilla, according to which the shock terminates in the supersonic domain. Experimental evidence cannot be obtained, however, because of the lack of resolution in this region.