A chemical shock tube driven by detonation

A chemical shock tube driven by a detonation driver is described in the present paper. This shock tube can produce a single controlled high-temperature pulse for studies of gas-phase reaction kinetics, but the difficulty associated with the timing for the rupture of diaphragms in the conventional chemical shock tube is overcome, because the detonation wave in the driver section can be predicted correctly and shows a good repeatability. In addition, this shock tube is capable of providing higher temperature conditions for the test gas than the conventional high-pressure shock tube, owing to the inherently high-driving capability of the detonation driver. The feasibility of this shock tube is examined by numerical simulations and preliminary experiments.     

Optical study of a light diaphragm rupture process in an expansion tube

Abstract. Rupture of a light cellophane diaphragm in an expansion tube has been studied by an optical method. The influence of the light diaphragm on test flow generation has long been recognised, however the diaphragm rupture mechanism is less well known. It has been previously postulated that the diaphragm ruptures around its periphery due to the dynamic pressure loading of the shock wave, with the diaphragm material at some stage being removed from the flow to allow the shock to accelerate to the measured speeds downstream. The images obtained in this series of experiments are the first to show the mechanism of diaphragm rupture and mass removal in an expansion tube. A light diaphragm was impulsively loaded via a shock wave and a series of images was recorded holographically throughout the rupture process, showing gradual destruction of the diaphragm. Features such as the diaphragm material, the interface between gases, and a reflected shock were clearly visualised. Both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the rupture dynamics were derived from the images and compared with existing one-dimensional theory. Received 10 April 1999 / Accepted 17 April 2000     

利用真实气体效应提高激波阶跃压力

在本文中提出了在激波管中,利用真实气体效应来提高激波阶跃压力的新方法,该方法对获得阶跃特性好的高阶跃压力(例如,动压标定等)是非常好。它是借助在高压下计及分子之间作用力、分子体积效应和激励效应而获得压力增益。经分析和试验表明,该方法得到.阶跃压力是比理想气体高出30％,该方法在国内外尚未进行系统研究,是一个有发展前途的方法。     

The effects that changes in the diaphragm aperture have on the resulting shock tube flow

In a conventional shock tube, the driver and the driven sections have similar (if not identical) cross-sectional area and the diaphragm opened area, upon rupturing, is practically equal to the tube cross-sectional area. Such geometry results in generating a well-formed shock wave in the tube’s driven section. The present experimental work checks the effects that changes in the diaphragm ruptured area have on the generated shock and rarefaction waves. Experiments were conducted in an 80?mm by 80?mm cross section shock tube generating incident shock waves having Mach numbers within the range from 1.06 to 1.25. In each run, pressure histories were recorded along the driven and the driver sections of the shock tube. The recorded pressures reveal that progressive reduction in the diaphragm open space resulted in a weaker shock and both longer time and distance until the compression waves generated close to the diaphragm coalesces into a shock wave. In addition, reducing the open space of the diaphragm resulted in a significant slow down in the high pressure reduction prevailing in the driver section.     

Characteristics of an annular vertical diaphragmless shock tube

Abstract. This paper reports on the characteristics of a compact vertical diaphragmless shock tube, which was constructed and tested in the Shock Wave Research Center to study experimentally the behavior of toroidal shock waves. It is 1.15 m in height and has a self-sustained co-axial vertical structure consisting of a 100 mm i.d. outer tube and an 80 mm o.d. inner tube. To create a ring shaped shock wave between the inner and outer tubes, a rubber sheet is inserted to separate a high pressure driver gas from a test gas, which is bulged with auxiliary high pressure helium from the behind. When the rubber membrane is contracted by the sudden release of the auxiliary gas so as to break the seal, shock waves are formed. Special design features of the shock tube are described and their role in producing repeatable shock waves is discussed. Its special opening characteristics make possible the production of annular shaped shock waves that are unlikely met with a conventional tube that uses rupturing diaphragms. Performance of the shock tube is evaluated in terms of the shock wave Mach numbers and the measured flow properties. It eventually showed a higher degree of repeatability and the scatter in the shock wave Mach numbers Ms was found to be 0.2% for Ms ranging from 1.1 to 1.8. The shock wave Mach number so far measured agreed very well with the simple shock tube theory. Received 3 February 1999 / Accepted 6 April 2000     

自由活塞压缩管ALE方法数值模拟

当前国际上实现高焓气体流动的实验手段之一是自由活塞驱动类脉冲设备,包括自由活塞激波风洞和自由活塞膨胀管.采用自由活塞压缩管作为激波风洞和膨胀管的驱动段时,其驱动能力在很大程度上决定了该类设备的性能.本文采用计算流体力学中任意拉格朗日——欧拉方法(arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian)数值模拟了压缩管内部的自由活塞运动和气体流动特征.采用移动网格技术来适应活塞运动边界,耦合求解网格运动和气体流动过程,并通过双时间步长方法进行流体运动的时间积分.为了满足几何守恒律(geometric conservation law),对移动网格的法向矢量和表面面积计算进行了修正.不同时刻的活塞位置试验测量结果及欧拉方法预测结果,以及基于简单波理论获得的运动活塞底部气体压力、活塞速度与活塞位置都与当前的ALE方法十分一致.该工作为下一步数值模拟自由活塞激波风洞和自由活塞膨胀管中包括压缩管、激波管和喷管等不同部位的耦合流动提供了基础.      

A computational technique for high enthalpy shock tube and shock tunnel flow simulation

A contact discontinuity tracking method with a specially designed moving grid is developed to eliminate the interface smearing completely. In order to precisely locate the contact surface, an updated Riemann solver for unsteady one-dimensional inviscid flows is also developed to allow consideration of the specific heat ratio change across the shock wave. These two new computational techniques are illustrated in a high Mach number shock tube flow field computation. Received 30 October 1997 / Accepted 6 December 1997     

反射波对预混气体爆炸过程与管壁动态响应的影响

为研究管道内甲烷/空气混合气体火焰和压力波的传播规律,对内载压力波作用下管壁的动态响应进行实验。结果表明,末端闭口实验中,管道末端的反射激波会引起当地火焰亮度的增大,而前端反射激波则有可能导致火焰内部的分离从而出现熄灭与复燃现象。相对于末端开口工况,末端闭口实验时管道两端产生的往复反射激波对管壁具有叠加加载作用,导致管壁产生较大的环向应变。     

A two-stage free-piston driver

The overall cost of free-piston driven facilities can be substantially reduced if the contraction between the compression and shock tubes is replaced with a constant area section. However, with such an implementation, a new driver concept is required in order to achieve a realistic facility length. This paper describes a new free-piston driver type for expansion tubes which satisfies the above criteria. The technique is known as the two-stage free-piston driver where the driver gas is compressed in two distinct stages with a unique compound piston design. A new facility has been constructed (X-2) which is described in some detail. A quasi-one-dimensional numerical model of the compression process is also developed which agrees well with driver tube experimental results. This new driver is coupled to an expansion tube arrangement where super-orbital test flows are generated. The results show that a two-stage free-piston driver is capable of driving hypervelocity expansion tubes and therefore new facilities of increased size but reduced cost are now possible. Received 18 May 1998 / Accepted 18 October 1998     

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.     

Hot-wire method for measurements of turbulent mixing induced by Richtmyer-Meshkov instability in shock tube

A constant temperature hot-wire anemometry method is applied to the study of mixing zones induced by the interaction of a shock wave with Mach number 1.25 in air with air/helium (heavy/light), air/argon or air/krypton (light/heavy) initially plane interfaces. The single wire gauge is positioned at various locations along the shock tube axis. At the present stage of our investigation, although the analysis of the hot-wire signal is not achieved yet, we report the interesting concept of using hot-wire anemometry as a diagnostic method for shock tube studies of the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability. Based on this preliminary work, we discuss prospective experimental signal conversion, in order to provide some new results for this field of investigation, in particular for resolving characteristics of the turbulent mixing zone which is of most interest. Received 3 August 2000 / Accepted 15 February 2001     

A new, friction controlled, piston actuated diaphragmless shock tube driver

A new friction operated single piston shock tube driver design that is capable of generating shock waves of Mach number 1.1 to 2 is presented. By using different test gases and evacuating the driven section Mach 5 shock waves can easily be produced. The driver is efficient with shock wave Mach numbers within 9% of that predicted by ideal shock tube theory and the non-dimensional formation length lies between 20 and 40. The brake pad mechanism, that restrains the piston until tests commence, removes the necessity of venting an auxiliary chamber rapidly, thus speeding up the displacement of the piston. It is believed that the design is a practical, simple and cost effective way of generating reproducible shock tube tests with very short test turn around times, while removing the necessity of using a diaphragm and exposing the test gases to the atmosphere. Results for three pistons with masses of 4.4, 0.71 and 0.38 kg (brass, PVC and hollow aluminium respectively) with driver gauge pressures of between 2 and 50 bar (Mach 1.2 to 2) are given. Received 27 February 1998 / Accepted 8 July 1998     

An attempt to reduce the membrane effects in Richtmyer–Meshkov instability shock tube experiments

A new device has been developed to reduce the effects of the initial materialization of the gaseous interface in the context of horizontal shock tube experiments for the Richtmyer–Meshkov instability study. The thin nitrocellulosic membrane deposited on a stereolithographed grid support woven with thin wires is destroyed by thermal effect, through a powerful electrical pulse, just before the arrival of the incident shock wave. We present a first attempt realized in the light/heavy gas configuration (air/SF₆) and compared with the experiments carried out without destruction. We show that the present device allows to reduce the influence of the membrane on the instability development.      

Three-dimensional shock wave reflection over a corner of two intersecting wedges

This paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation of three-dimensional shock wave reflections over a corner of two wedges intersecting perpendicularly in a shock tube. Experiments were conducted in a diaphragmless shock tube equipped with double-exposure diffuse holographic interferometry in which the time interval between the first and second exposure was set to be . This arrangement clearly visualized complex configurations of three-dimensional shock wave reflections. A numerical study was also carried out for interpreting these holographic interferometric observations by using the Weighted Average Flux (WAF) method to solve the three-dimensional unsteady compressible Euler equations. It was found that along the line of the intersection of these two wedges, two Mach stems intersected each other resulting in the formation of a Mach stem which leaned forward. Received 30 June 1996 / Accepted 6 October 1996     

Instability theory of shock wave in a shock tube

The instability theory of shock wave in a shock tube including the effects of tube wall and contact surface is studied. The experimental data of unstable shock wave coincide with one of instability criteria derived in the present paper.     

A compact shock-assisted free-piston driver for impulse facilities

A free-piston driver that employs entropy-raising shock processes with diaphragm rupture has been constructed, which promises significant theoretical advantages over isentropic compression. Results from a range of conditions with helium and argon driver gases are reported. Significant performance gains were achieved in some test cases. Heat losses are shown to have a strong effect on driver processes. Measurements compare well with predictions from a quasi-one-dimensional numerical code. Received 7 September 1996 / Accepted 5 October 1996     

The effect of diaphragm opening time on the feasibility of tuned operation in free piston shock tunnels

The effect of diaphragm opening time on the feasibility of tuned operation is analyzed by parametric calculations. The effect on the duration of pressure holding is also investigated. Characteristic parameters are defined to show the effects of dimensions, operation conditions and diaphragm opening time. It is shown that diaphragm opening time needs to be less than a certain limit to achieve tuned operation. The limit depends on pressure at diaphragm rupture and the ratio of diameters between a downstream shock tube and a compression tube. The permissible diaphragm opening time is also proportional to the length of the compression tube. The existence of the limit required for tuned operation is shown to be caused by the increase of pressure in the driver gas during the diaphragm opening. Moreover, the effect of diaphragm opening time on the duration of the pressure holding is shown to be weak once tuned operation becomes feasible.

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Noh's constant-velocity shock problem revisited

We present the solutions to Noh's shock tube problem in planar, cylindrical, and spherical geometry. This problem has the well-deserved reputation of being challenging to numerical methods. Since the gas is initially cold there are infinitely many reflections of the shock between the fixed wall and the piston as the piston moves with constant velocity towards the wall. An implicit adaptive grid algorithm allows us, for the first time, to generate the complete solutions in these three geometries. We discuss them in detail, in particular follow the shock over many reflections, and perform numerical consistency checks. For the planar case the exact analytical solution is derived, and the numerical error in all physical quantities is found to be less than 1% on a 100 grid-point computational domain. For the converging geometries an approximate analytical theory is presented, and the deviations between the theory and the numerical results are found to be less than 10% on the same domain. A substantial part of this total error is due to errors in the approximate analytical results. We discuss the physics of the shock reflection in the three geometries, and analyze in particular the finite amount of entropy that is produced after the the first shock reflection. In an appendix we present some details of our code and demonstrate that the adaptive grid permits us to carry out computations of extreme precision. The reliability of our solutions in all three geometries allows them to become demanding tests for 2D and 3D codes. Received 16 April 1996 / Accepted 15 August 1996     

A numerical investigation of transient detonation in granulated material

A two-phase model based upon principles of continuum mixture theory is numerically solved to predict the evolution of detonation in a granulated reactive material. Shock to detonation transition (SDT) is considered whereby combustion is initiated due to compression of the material by a moving piston. In particular, this study demonstrates the existence of a SDT event which gives rise to a steady two-phase Chapman-Jouguet (CJ) detonation structure consisting of a single lead shock in the gas and an unshocked solid; this structure has previously been independently predicted by a steady-state theory. The unsteady model equations, which constitute a non-strictly hyperbolic system, are numerically solved using a modern high-resolution method. The numerical method is based on Godunov's method, and utilizes an approximate solution for the two-phase Riemann problem. Comparisons are made between numerical predictions and known theoretical results for 1) an inert two-phase shock tube problem, 2) an inert compaction wave structure, and 3) a reactive two-phase detonation structure; in all cases, good agreement exists. Received 4 August 1995 / Accepted 17 February 1996     

一个改进的电磁波传输激波管实验

在中国科学院力学研究所$\varPhi $ 800 mm高温低密度激波管上进行电磁波在等离子体中传输机理研究时,低密度和强激波条件下,由于气体解离和电离等非平衡过程,使得激波后2区宽度显著减小;同时由于边界层效应造成激波衰减和接触面加速,使得激波后2区长度进一步减小.这两个效应导致激波管2区实验观测 时间减小,2区气体处于非平衡状态,增加了观察数据的不稳定性和数据分析的难度.本文提出在$\varPhi 800 $ mm高温低密度激波 管中采用氩气(Ar)和空气(Air)混合气替代纯空气作为激波管实验介质气体.利用Ar不解离和难电离的特性,减小激波前后压缩比,从而 增加激波后2区实验时间和气体长度. 采用Langmuir 静电探针和微波透射诊断技术测量激波后电子密度,同时利用探针测量激波后2区实验时间.结果显示,在Ar+Air混合气实验中,激波波后电子密度可达与纯Air同样的10$^{13}$cm$^{ - 3}$量级.在与纯Air相同的电子密度和碰撞频率条件下,采用95%Ar+5%Air和90%Ar+10%Air两种混合气,激波后2区实验时间和气体长度约为纯Air条件下的5$\sim $10倍,其中2区实验时间为300$\sim $800 $\mu$s,2区气体长度1$\sim $1.5 m.在$\varPhi $800 mm激波管中采用Ar+Air介质气体进行电磁波传输实验,获得了比在纯Air介质中与理论预测更一致的结果.