Study of unsteady flow past bodies behind shock waves

Several theoretical and experimental studies have been devoted to the problem of the nonstationary action of the stream behind a shock wave on bodies of varied shape. In particular, in [1], the pressure and density are calculated for flow about bodies of the more typical shapes in the initial stage of the process. The basic relations which accompany the interaction of shock waves are considered in [2, 3]. The analysis of the phenomena of diffraction of shock waves on the sphere, cylinder, and cone is presented in [4]. Problems of unsteady flow about a wing are examined in [5, 6]. A detailed review of the foreign studies on unsteady flow is given in [7]. Of great practical interest is the question of the time for flow formation and the magnitudes of the unsteady loads during this period. Experimental investigations have been made recently [8, 9] in which some criteria are presented for estimating the bow shock formation time for supersonic flow about the sphere and cylinder with flat blunting. However the question of the formation time of the stationary pressure on the body surface is not referred to in these studies and no relationship is shown between the transient position of the reflected wave and the corresponding unsteady pressure on the surface. Moreover, in [8] the dimensionless time criterion is determined very approximately, independently of the Mach number of the shock wave. The present study was undertaken with the object of determining the basic criteria which characterize unsteady flow about bodies behind a plane shock wave which has time-independent parameters, and clarification of the shock wave reflected from the body and the pressure on the surface of the body during the transient period. The most typical body shapes were studied: 1) a cylinder with flat face aligned with the stream; 2) a spherically-blunted cylinder; and 3) a cylinder transverse to the stream. The experiments were conducted in a conventional shock tube using the single-diaphragm scheme. The measurements of the pressure on the models and the velocity of the incident shock wave were made using the technique analogous to that of [10, 11]. A highspeed movie camera was used to record the pattern of the wave diffraction on the body. The Mach number of the incident shock wave varied in the range from M=1.5 to M≈6.0, which corresponded to a range of Mach numbers M_∞ of the stream behind the shock wave from 0.6 to 2.1. The calculations of the required gas dynamic parameters for high temperatures were made with account for equilibrium dissociation of the air on the basis of the data of [10, 12, 13]. The magnitude of the relative maximal shock wave standoff Δ at the stagnation point obtained in the present experiments was compared with the values of Δ from other studies. In the case of the flat-blunted cylinder it was in good agreement with the results of [8–14], and in the case of the spherically-blunted cylinder and the transverse cylinder it was in agreement with the results of [15].     

Aerodynamic properties of “shock riders” that use flows behind axisymmetric shock waves

Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 183–185, January–February, 1990.     

Imploding conical shock waves

The behaviour of conical shock waves imploding axisymmetrically was first studied numerically by Hornung (J Fluid Mech 409:1–12, 2000) and this prompted a limited experimental investigation into these complex flow patterns by Skews et al. (Shock Waves 11:323–326, 2002). Modification of the simulation boundary conditions, resulting in the loss of self-similarity, was necessary to image the flow experimentally. The current tests examine the temporal evolution of these flows utilising a converging conical gap of fixed width fed by a shock wave impinging at its entrance, supported by CFD simulations. The effects of gap thickness, angle and incident shock strength were investigated. The wave initially diffracts around the outer lip of the gap shedding a vortex which, for strong incident shock cases, can contain embedded shocks. The converging shock at exit reflects on the axis of symmetry with the reflected wave propagating outwards resulting in a triple point developing on the incident wave together with the associated shear layer. This axisymmetric shear layer rolls up into a mushroom-shaped toroidal vortex ring and forward-facing jet. For strong shocks, this deforms the Mach disk to the extent of forming a second triple point with the primary shock exhibiting a double bulge. Separate features resembling the Richtmeyer–Meshkov and Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities were noted in some tests. Aside from the incident wave curvature, the reflection patterns demonstrated correspond well with the V- and DV-types identified by Hornung although type S was not clearly seen, possibly due to the occlusion of the reflection region by the outer diffraction vortex at these early times. Some additional computational work explicitly exploring the limits of the parameter space for such systems has demonstrated the existence of a possible further reflection type, called vN-type, which is similar to the von Neumann reflection for plane waves. It is recommended that the parameter space be more thoroughly explored experimentally.     

Hypersonic flow past conical bodies

In [1, 2] Gonor considered the problem of imperfect inviscid gas flow about conical bodies at high supersonic speeds. The method of expansion in terms of a small parameter was used to obtain the solution. The small parameter used was the ratio of the densities in the free stream and behind the shock wave. However, this solution does not enable one to determine the velocity field in the vicinity of the cone surface.In the present paper, this problem is solved by the method described in [3], based on the use of the Poincaré-Lighthill-Ho method. The zero approximation is obtained, which is suitable throughout the entire flow region including the vortical layer. Outside of this layer, the solution transforms to the Gonor solution [1, 2].The author wishes to thank B. M. Bulakha for discussing the paper.     

Observations of large-scale structures in wakes behind axisymmetric bodies

Wakes behind disk-shaped axisymmetric bodies of varying solidity are studied using flow visualization and two-dimensional Fourier decomposition of velocity measurements. Evidence of a reverse flow region behind some of the bodies is observed to coincide with the presence of large-scale structures in the near and far wake. Fourier analysis shows that these large-scale structures are predominately helical (m= ±1) and occur at a characteristic frequency which corresponds to their wavelength as observed from flow visualization. Our measured value for this characteristic frequency agrees with vortex shedding frequencies observed for these types of wakes.     

An experiment on imploding conical shock waves

Over the past decade and a half there have been a number of numerical studies of the reflection of oblique axisymmetric shock waves from the axis of symmetry. Many of these have shown a complex Mach reflection pattern together with a strong toroidal vortex which significantly distorts the Mach disk. This geometry has never been captured experimentally. This note describes a special rig for the generation of strong imploding conical shocks, and presents photographs of the predicted reflection pattern. Received 4 October 2001 / Accepted 13 November 2001     

Self-similar solutions for unsteady flow behind an exponential shock in an axisymmetric rotating dusty gas

Similarity solutions are obtained for one-dimensional unsteady isothermal and adiabatic flows behind a strong exponential cylindrical shock wave propagating in a rotational axisymmetric dusty gas, which has variable azimuthal and axial fluid velocities. The shock wave is driven by a piston moving with time according to an exponential law. Similarity solutions exist only when the surrounding medium is of constant density. The azimuthal and axial components of the fluid velocity in the ambient medium are assumed to obey exponential laws. The dusty gas is assumed to be a mixture of small solid particles and a perfect gas. To obtain some essential features of the shock propagation, small solid particles are considered as a pseudo-fluid; it is assumed that the equilibrium flow conditions are maintained in the flow field, and that the viscous stresses and heat conduction in the mixture are negligible. Solutions are obtained for the cases when the flow between the shock and the piston is either isothermal or adiabatic, by taking into account the components of the vorticity vector. It is found that the assumption of zero temperature gradient results in a profound change in the density distribution as compared to that for the adiabatic case. The effects of the variation of the mass concentration of solid particles in the mixture \(K_p\) , and the ratio of the density of solid particles to the initial density of the gas \(G_a\) are investigated. A comparison between the solutions for the isothermal and adiabatic cases is also made.     

Investigation of unsteady supersonic flow past conical bodies

A study is made of the three-dimensional supersonic flow of ideal gas past conical bodies executing harmonic oscillations in the plane of the angle of attack about some angle β₀ in accordance with the law α = α₀ cos ωt, so that the total angle of attack is β = β₀ + α₀ cos ωt.     

Acceleration of a sphere behind planar shock waves

The paper presents the results of an investigation on the motion of a spherical particle in a shock tube flow. A shock tube facility was used for studying the acceleration of a sphere by an incident shock wave. Using different optical methods and performing experiments in two different shock tubes, the trajectory and velocity of a spherical particle were measured. Based upon these results and simple one-dimensional calculations, the drag coefficient of a sphere and shading effect of sphere interaction with a shock tube flow were studied.     

Soundspeed measurements in vapor-liquid mixtures behind shock waves

In the experimental investigation of liquefaction shock waves, it is possible to measure the soundspeed of the two-phase, liquid-vapor mixture behind the shock wave. The expansion wave, produced as the shock wave emerges from the open end of a shock tube, intersects the shockfront at an observable point, allowing a simple Mach construction for the determination of the mixture soundspeed. Photographic observation and measurements of fluid properties and shock velocity are required. Results are compared with the mixture soundspeeds calculated for local thermodynamic equilibrium. Departures from the equilibrium values increase as shock strength increases.     

Nonideal effects behind reflected shock waves in a high-pressure shock tube

Abstract. Shock tubes often experience temperature and pressure nonuniformities behind the reflected shock wave that cannot be neglected in chemical kinetics experiments. Because of increased viscous effects, smaller tube diameters, and nonideal shock formation, the reflected-shock nonidealities tend to be greater in higher-pressure shock tubes. Since the increase in test temperature () is the most significant parameter for chemical kinetics, experiments were performed to characterize in the Stanford High Pressure Shock Tube using infrared emission from a known amount of CO in argon. From the measured change in vibrationally equilibrated CO emission with time, the corresponding ddt (or for a known time interval) of the mixture was inferred assuming an isentropic relationship between post-shock temperature and pressure changes. For a range of representative conditions in argon (24–530 atm, 1275–1900 K), the test temperature 2 cm from the endwall increased 3–8 K after 100 s and 15–40 K after 500 s, depending on the initial conditions. Separate pressure measurements using a shielded piezoelectric transducer confirmed the isentropic assumption. An analytical model of the reflected-shock gas dynamics was also developed, and the calculated 's agree well with those obtained from experiment. The analytical model was used to estimate the effects of temperature and pressure nonuniformities on typical chemical kinetics measurements. When the kinetics are fast (s), the temperature increase is typically negligible, although some correction is suggested for kinetics experiments lasting longer than 500 s. The temperature increase, however, has a negligible impact on the measured laser absorption profiles of OH (306 nm) and CH (216 nm), validating the use of a constant absorption coefficient. Infrared emission experiments are more sensitive to temperature and density changes, so nonuniformities should be taken into account when interpreting ir-emission data. Received 25 April 2000 / Accepted 8 September 2000     

Focusing of weak shock waves in confined axisymmetric chambers

Theoretical study of a weak shock wave focusing process on a spherical region in confined 3-D axisymmetric chambers is presented. The chambers are elliptic or parabolic in the plane cross-section containing their axis of symmetry. In the elliptic case a spherical shock wave of constant strength generated at one of the focal points will reflect off the chamber wall and converge on a spherical region around the second focus of the chamber. It is shown that the pressure distribution on the converging spherical shock wave is not homogeneous. In the parabolic case two possibilities of shock generation are considered. In the first one a plane shock wave of constant intensity is send in the inner of the chamber. This shock wave with the plane perpendicular to the symmetry axis will after the reflection off the chamber wall transform to a spherical shock with non-homogeneous pressure distribution. Alternatively, a spherical shock of constant intensity generated at the focus of the paraboloidal chamber will after the reflection transform to a plane shock with non-homogeneous pressure distribution propagating in the outer of the chamber. The above mentioned problems are solved within the frame of the geometrical acoustics approximation and the flow fields as well as the non-uniform shock strengths behind the converging wave fronts are calculated.This article was processed using Springer-Verlag T_EX Shock Waves macro package 1.0 and the AMS fonts, developed by the American Mathematical Society.     

Kinetics and oxidation mechanism of cyclopentadiene behind the shock waves

Oxidation of cyclo-C₅H₅ was investigated by monitoring O atoms and also CO molecules behind the reflected shock of cyclo-C₅H₆ / O₂ /Ar and C₆H₅OCH₃ /O₂ /Ar mixtures. In both mixtures we could observe the formation of O atoms produced by the reaction of cyclo-C₅H₅ + O cyclo-C₅H₅O + O and from the kinetic analysis of these time profiles the rate constant for this reaction was determined to be kJ/RT) cm³ mol^-1 s^-1. The possibility of CO formation by the reaction of cyclo-C₅H₅O C₄H₅ + CO was also investigated but because of the subsequent reactions forming CO molecules no direct information for the reaction of cyclo-C₅H₅O C₄H₅ + CO was derived.Received: 3 February 2003, Accepted: 17 June 2003, Published online: 5 August 2003