Experimental investigation of the interaction of shock waves with textiles

Experimental studies have been performed to investigate the pressure amplification experienced behind a textile when exposed to a shock wave. Three textiles with different masses and air permeabilities were studied. Mach numbers for tests varied between 1.23 and 1.55. The distance between the back wall and the textile was varied between 3 and 15 mm. It was found that in most cases the presence of the textile led to a pressure amplification at the back wall. This amplification was dependent on the textile, Mach number and distance from the back wall. The processes causing the pressure amplification were identified by analysing pressure traces and contact shadowgraphs. It was found that when the incident wave impinges on the textile, a part is reflected upstream and a part is transmitted through the textile. The transmitted portion reflects back and forth in the gap between the textile and the back wall leading to a back wall pressure trace with a stepped profile. In addition, the textile moves towards the back wall causing compression waves to propagate towards the back wall. The combination of the stepped profile and the compression waves cause the pressure amplification. The contribution of each mechanism depends on the textile properties. Approximate wave diagrams have been constructed. Tests involving multiple layers of textiles are also discussed. Received 17 October 2000 / Accepted 2 February 2001     

An analytical model for shock wave impact on compressible open-cell foam

A simple model is proposed to describe the main features of the complex phenomena that occur when a plane shock wave strikes a open-cell foam block. The complex two-phase interactions can be simplified using the experimental evidence that the foam face may be treated as a contact surface, that the length of the collapsed foam plug grows linearly in time, and that the gas pressure profile in the region between the head of the plug and the undisturbed material may be treated as being pseudo-stationary. These simplifications enable the prominent features of the compression process to be predicted for a variety of foam types. Analytical results for the reflected shock strength, foam front face velocity, transmitted wave velocity and strength, and maximum peak back wall pressures are presented.      

Specific features of incident and reflected blast waves

On the basis of numerical modeling specific features of shock wave reflections were analyzed. It was found, that after diaphragm rupture self-modeling pressure and velocity distributions nearby the shock front establish. But in some special cases the temperature behind the shock front can rise. This peculiarity should be taken into account when performing experiments with high reactive gaseous mixtures. The temperature on the shock front and the velocity gradient behind it are uniform in the case of strong blast wave reflections. This effect is observed in the zone with an elevated temperature profile behind the incident blast wave. The reflected triangular waves conserve a quasi-self-modeling character by pressure. Typical experiments were carried out to verify the theoretical predictions. The effects of reflected wave acceleration in the case of triangular waves and the self-similar character of the pressure profiles were observed.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.     

Experimental and computational studies focusing processes of shock waves reflected from parabolic reflectors

This paper describes experimental and numerical studies of the focusing process of shock waves reflected from various shapes of a parabolic reflector. The effect of incident shock strength on the focusing process was also investigated. Experiments were carried out in a conventional shock tube and a test gas was air for incident shock Mach numbers ranging from 1.1 to 2.0. In the experiments, the process of shock focusing was visualized by schlieren method. Numerical simulations were conducted for incident shock Mach numbers up to 3.0 by solving the two-dimensional unsteady Euler equations. The numerical results were compared with experiment for various parabolic reflector shapes and for various incident shock Mach numbers. Based on the experimental and computational results, the pattern of shock focusing and shock focusing mechanism are discussed.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.     

The effect of porosity on shock interaction with a rigid, porous barrier

This work investigates the pressure amplification experienced behind a rigid, porous barrier that is exposed to a planar shock. Numerical simulations are performed in two dimensions using the full Navier–Stokes equations for a M = 1.3 incoming shock wave. An array of cylinders is positioned at some distance from a solid wall and the shock wave is allowed to propagate past the barrier and reflect off the wall. Pressure at the wall is recorded and the flowfield is examined using numerical schlieren images. This work is intended to provide insight into the interaction of a shock wave with a cloth barrier shielding a solid boundary, and therefore the Reynolds number is small (i.e., Re = 500 to 2000). Additionally, the effect of porosity of the barrier is examined. While the pressure plots display no distinct trend based on Reynolds number, the porosity has a marked effect on the flowfield structure and endwall pressure, with the pressure increasing as porosity decreases until a maximum value is reached.      

The interaction between shock waves and foam in a shock tube

An experimental study and a numerical simulation were conducted to investigate the mechanical and thermodynamic processes involved in the interaction between shock waves and low density foam. The experiment was done in a stainless shock tube (80 mm in inner diameter, 10 mm in wall thickness and 5 360 mm in length). The velocities of the incident and reflected compression waves in the foam were measured by using piezo-ceramic pressure sensors. The end-wall peak pressure behind the reflected wave in the foam was measured by using a crystal piezoelectric sensor. It is suggested that the high end-wall pressure may be caused by a rapid contact between the foam and the end-wall surface. Both open-cell and closed-cell foams with different length and density were tested. Through comparing the numerical and experimental end-wall pressure, the permeability coefficients α and β are quantitatively determined.     

Achieving an optimal shock-wave mitigation inside open channels with cavities for weak shock waves: A computational study

This paper deals with a numerical study of weak shock-waves propagation and their attenuation in channel flow having different heights and exhibiting a hollow circular cavities with different depths and diffraction angles inside. The effect of initial diffraction angle and cavity depth on the shock mitigation is investigated. A better shock attenuation is achieved with diffraction angle θ_w = 90° by a factor of approximately 17% in terms of shock-Mach number and 38% in terms of total energy. The obtained results show also, in addition to the initial diffraction angle and cavity depth, the importance of reducing the channel heights as well as the position of the reduced section in achieving an optimal shock-wave attenuation. The presence of a cavity inside the channel helps to attenuate faster the shock wave. The underlying physics relies on the shock diffraction phenomenon that generates large amount of vortical structures capable of dissipating part of the shock energy by inducing a pressure loss behind it. A subtle arrangement of channel position/height and a cavity location leads to an efficient pressure attenuation by approximately a factor of 57% for M_s = 1.6 and 16% for M_s = 1.1.     

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     

Enhancement of shock waves

The flow field developed behind a shock wave propagating inside a constant cross-section conduit is solved numerically for two different cases. First, when the density of the ambient gas into which the shock propagates has a logarithmic change with distance. In the second, and the more practical case, the ambient gas is composed of pairs of air–helium layers having a continually decreasing width. It is shown that in both cases meaningful pressure amplification can be reached behind the transmitted shock wave. It is especially so in the second case. By proper choice of the number of air–helium layers and their width reduction ratio, pressure amplification as high as 7.5 can be obtained.      

Axisymmetric shock wave interaction with a cone: a benchmark test

Results of the benchmark test are presented of comparing numerical schemes solving shock wave of M_s = 2.38 in nitrogen and argon interacting with a 43∘ semi-apex angle cone and corresponding experiments. The benchmark test was announced in Shock Waves Vol. 12, No. 4, in which we tried to clarify the effects of viscosity and heat conductivity on shock reflection in conical flows. This paper summarizes results of ten numerical and two experimental applications. State of the art in studies regarding the shock/cone interaction is clarified. PACS 01.50.Kw, 47.15.Pn Communicated by K. Takayama     

Investigation of shock waves interference and associated hysteresis effect at variable-Mach-number upstream flow

Experimental investigations and numerical simulations have been performed to study the transition between steady regular and Mach reflections induced by flow Mach number variation. The experiments have been carried out in the supersonic wind tunnel SIGMA 4B, at the Institut Aérotechnique (IAT) in St Cyr L'Ecole, France. Symmetric and asymmetric arrangements of wedges have been tested. No significant hysteresis phenomenon has been detected experimentally. However, this phenomenon has been revealed by numerical computations obtained by solving the Navier-Stokes equations.Received: 9 October 2001, Accepted: 11 October 2002, Published online: 21 February 2003     

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     

Formation of a jet and vortices behind a shock wave reflected from a concave body

A jet and vortices have been observed when a plane shock wave reflects from a concave body in a shock tube. If the cavity is deep enough then two reflected shocks appear near its edges. Air, carbon tetrafluoride (CF) and dichlorodifluoromethane (CClF) were chosen as test gases. The flow was visualized with the aid of a conventional shadow technique. Pressure measurements at the body surface were also obtained. Numerical studies have been conducted using a two-dimensional inviscid model. There is a good qualitative agreement between the experimental and numerical results. Received 8 February 1996 / Accepted 30 June 1997     

Interaction of a reflected shock from a concave wall with a flame distorted by an incident shock

Observations are presented from calculations where a laminar spherical CH₄/air flame was perturbed successively by incident and reflected shock waves reflected from a planar or concave wall. The two-dimensional axi-symmetric Navier–Stokes equations with detailed chemistry were used. The computational results were qualitatively validated with experiments which were performed in a standard shock tube arrangement. Under the influence of the incident shock wave, a Richtmyer–Meshkov instability is induced in the flame, and the distorted flame finally takes the form of two separated elliptical burning bubbles in the symmetric cross plane. Then, under subsequent interactions with the shock wave reflected from the planar or the concave wall, the flame takes a mushroom-like shape. Transverse waves produced by the shock reflection from the concave wall can compress the flame towards the axis, and the focusing shock generated on the concave wall will lead to a larger mushroom-like flame than that induced by the planar reflection.      

爆炸冲击波反射流场的理论计算方法

爆炸冲击波遇到固壁,依次发生正规和非正规反射。本文中基于镜像方法,将爆炸冲击波在固壁反射等效为真实和虚拟爆炸流场的相互作用,建立了波后流场的理论计算方法。首先,假定反射波是以虚拟爆源为中心的圆弧,马赫杆是以爆心在固壁投影点为中心的圆弧。然后,根据爆炸自由场传播规律,利用基于几何近似的方法,建立流场中冲击波结构随时间演化的计算方法,确定任意时刻波后流场区域。最后,利用新发展的叠加模型LAMBR (LAMB revisied),将真实和虚拟爆炸流场进行叠加,给出波后流场中的压力、密度和速度等物理量。通过与数值模拟结果和已有数据进行对比,发现该方法得到的流场物理量分布、峰值等能够反映流场发展的主要规律,从而验证了该理论方法的合理性。而且,该理论方法所需的时间相较于数值模拟大大缩短。     

Numerical investigations of shock waves in gas-particle mixtures

The propagation of shock waves in gas-particle mixtures in one- and two-dimensional geometries is numerically investigated. Two schemes for approximating conservation laws for particles, which are collectively treated as a continuum medium, are compared and discussed. Different models of the drag coefficient and Nusselt number, directly affecting the interaction between the gas and particle phases, are used for obtaining shock profiles, and the results are compared. The oblique shock reflections at a solid wedge in a gas-particle mixture are simulated. The results demonstrate that the reflection pattern changes as the shock propagates along the wedge, revealing strong non-selfsimilarity of the phenomenon.Received: 22 May 2003, Accepted: 28 August 2003, Published online: 12 November 2003 Correspondence to:T. Saito     

A study of shock wave interaction with a rotating cylinder

Shock wave reflection over a rotating circular cylinder is numerically and experimentally investigated. It is shown that the transition from the regular reflection to the Mach reflection is promoted on the cylinder surface which rotates in the same direction of the incident shock motion, whereas it is retarded on the surface that rotates to the reverse direction. Numerical calculations solving the Navier-Stokes equations using extremely fine grids also reveal that the reflected shock transition from RR MR is either advanced or retarded depending on whether or not the surface motion favors the incident shock wave. The interpretation of viscous effects on the reflected shock transition is given by the dimensional analysis and from the viewpoint of signal propagation.Received: 24 April 2002, Accepted: 16 August 2002, Published online: 25 March 2003     

Propagation of weak shock waves in a magnetic field

This paper gives a solution of the problem of the propagation of weak shock waves in an inhomogeneous conducting medium in the presence of a magnetic field. The width of the perturbed region is taken to be small compared with the characteristic dimensions of the problem. The magnetic Reynolds number is also assumed small, which allows one to neglect the induced magnetic field. The method of solution employed is similar to that used in [1–3],The author is grateful to B. I. Zaslavskii for useful advice and for discussing the paper.     

A numerical study of shock wave reflections on low density foam

A continuum mixture theory is used to describe shock wave reflections on low density open-cell polyurethane foam. Numerical simulations are compared to the shock tube experiments of Skews (1991) and detailed wave fields are shown of a shock wave interacting with a layer of foam adjacent to a rigid wall boundary. These comparisons demonstrate that a continuum mixture theory describes well the shock interactions with low density foam.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.     

Attenuation of shock waves propagating in polyurethane foams

Shock wave attenuation in polyurethane foams is investigated experimentally and numerically. This study is a part of research project regarding shock propagation in polyurethane foams with high-porosities = 0.951 ~ 0.977 and low densities of ρc = 27.6 ~55.8 kg/m³. Sixty Millimeter long cylindrical foams with various cell numbers and foam insertion condition were installed in a horizontal shock tube of 50 mm i.d. and 5.4 mm in length. Results of pressure measurements in air/foam combination are compared with CFD simulation solving the one-dimensional Euler equations. In the case of a foam B fixed on shock tube wall, pressures at the shock tube end wall increases relatively slowly comparing to non-fixed foam, free to move and a foam A fixed on shock tube wall. This implies that elastic inertia hardly contributes to pressure build up. Pressures behind a foam C fixed on shock tube wall decrease indicating that shock wave is degenerated into compression wave. Dimensionless impulse and attenuation factor decrease as the initial cell number increases. The momentum loss varies depending on cell structure and cell number.