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     

Technical note A simple shock tunnel driver gas detector

A device has been developed to detect the arrival of the driver gas in a shock tunnel. The detector is small enough to be used in conjunction with other experiments. It works by choking a duct when the specific heat ratio is increased past a critical value. Times are given for the onset of a 7.5% contamination level in flows with freestream enthalpies ranging from 3–9 MJ/kg. These results are compared with and are shown to be in agreement with measurements made with a mass spectrometer. Results displaying the rate at which the test gas is contaminated are also given.     

Advances in detonation driving techniques for a shock tube/tunnel

Early works on the detonation driven shock tube are reviewed briefly. High initial pressure detonable mixture can be used in backward-detonation driver when the buffer tube is attached to the end of the driver for eliminating the excessive reflected peak pressure. Experimental data showed that an improvement on attenuation of the incident shock wave generated by the forward driver can be obtained, provided the diameter of the driver is larger than that of the driven section and an abrupt reduction of cross-section area is placed just beyond the diaphragm. Also, it is clearly verified by a numerical analysis. An additional backward-detonation driver is proposed to attach to the primary detonation driver and on condition that the ratios of initial pressure in the additional driver to that in the primary driver exceed the threshold value, the Taylor wave behind detonation wave in the primary detonation driver can be eliminated completely.     

Driver gas contaminationin a detonation-driven reflected-shock tunnel

A computational study has been carried out to examine the effects of driver gas contamination in the NASA HYPULSE facility at GASL when operating with a detonation driver in reflected-shock tunnel mode. Unlike high-enthalpy shock tunnels which use helium as a driver gas, the driver gas in a detonation driver consists of a mixture of water vapour and argon, which has very different chemical and thermodynamic properties than those of helium. The purpose of the present work is to quantitatively evaluate the effects of driver gas contamination on the flow properties in the test section. Two computational analyses have been performed. The first analysis examined the nozzle flow under the influence of a prescribed level of driver gas contamination. In the second analysis, the transient development of the driver gas leakage in the reflected-shock region in the shock tube is studied. The unique flow features brought about by the detonation-driver gas and the method for detecting the contamination are discussed.Received: 6 August 2002, Revised: 22 September 2003, Published online: 10 February 2004Correspondence to: R.S.M. ChueAn abridged version of this paper was presented at the 23rd International Symposium on Shock Waves at Fort Worth, Texas, July 23 to 27, 2001     

反射激波作用重气柱的Richtmyer-Meshkov不稳定性的实验研究

采用高速摄影结合激光片光源技术,研究了反射激波冲击空气环境中重气体(SF₆)气柱的Richtmyer-Meshkov不稳定性。通过在横式激波管试验段采用可移动反射端壁获得不同反射距离,实现了反射激波在不同时刻二次冲击处于演化中后期的气柱界面,得到了不同的界面演化规律。反射距离较小时,斜压机制对气柱界面形态演化的影响显著,界面衍生出二次涡对结构;反射距离较大时,压力扰动机制的影响显著,界面在流向上被明显地压缩,没有形成明显的涡结构。由气柱界面形态的时间演化图像得到了界面位置和整体尺度随时间的变化,对反射激波作用后气柱界面的演化进行了量化分析。     

Mass spectrometric measurements of driver gas arrival in the T4 free-piston shock-tunnel

Available test time is an important issue for ground-based flow research, particularly for impulse facilities such as shock tunnels, where test times of the order of several ms are typical. The early contamination of the test flow by the driver gas in such tunnels restricts the test time. This paper reports measurements of the driver gas arrival time in the test section of the T4 free-piston shock-tunnel over the total enthalpy range 3–17 MJ/kg, using a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The results confirm measurements made by previous investigators using a choked duct driver gas detector at these conditions, and extend the range of previous mass spectrometer measurements to that of 3–20 MJ/kg. Comparisons of the contamination behaviour of various piston-driven reflected shock tunnels are also made. PACS 07.75.th; 47.40.-x     

Performance of a detonation driven shock tunnel

A detonation driven shock tunnel is useful as a ground test facility for hypersonic flow research. By attaching a convergent section ahead of the primary diaphragm in the driver section, the downstream operation mode became available to generate a high-enthalpy test flow. A 100 mm diameter shock tunnel was for the first time installed in the Laboratory of High-Temperature-Gas Dynamics (LHD), Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and after its continuous refitments, a high performance detonation driven shock tunnel was achieved to generate high-enthalpy and high-Reynolds number test flows. A new method to burst a metal diaphragm with the downstream operation mode is discussed.Received: 13 December 2003, Accepted: 26 August 2004, Published online: 26 November 2004[/PUBLISHED]W. Zhao: Correspondence to     

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     

激波/边界层相互作用诱导的激波风洞气体污染问题

应用多组分NS方程和频散可控耗散格式(DCD)计算了爆轰驱动激波风洞中反射激波/ 边界层/接触面的相互作用过程,分析了驱动气体与试验气体在壁面射流作用下的掺混机制及 其对风洞试验时间的影响. 为了延长风洞的试验时间,提出在风洞贮室内增设环形隔板, 以隔离壁面射流,延长风洞试验时间的方法. 计算结果表明：环形隔板确实可以限制驱动气 体与试验气体的过早掺混,显著增加激波风洞的有效试验时间.     

A driver gas detection device for shock tunnels

A device has been produced which can detect the contamination of the test gas by the driver gas in a reflected shock tunnel. This device monitors the static pressure in a converging duct. The duct is designed to choke at a predetermined contamination level due to the change in the specific heat ratio produced by the contaminants. Experimental results are given for a freestream enthalpy of nominally 6 MJ/kg.     

Experimental study on the flow field behind a backward-facing step using a detonation-driven shock tunnel

The supersonic combustion RAM jet (SCRAM jet) engine is expected to be used in next-generation space planes and hypersonic airliners. To develop the engine, stabilized combustion in a supersonic flow field must be attained even though the residence time of flow is extremely short. A mixing process for breathed air and fuel injected into the supersonic flow field is therefore one of the most important design problems. Because the flow inside the SCRAM jet engine has high enthalpy, an experimental facility is required to produce the high-enthalpy flow field. In this study, a detonation-driven shock tunnel was built to produce a high-enthalpy flow, and a model SCRAM jet engine equipped with a backward-facing step was installed in the test section of the facility to visualize flow fields using a color schlieren technique and high-speed video camera. The fuel was injected perpendicularly to a Mach 3 flow behind the backward-facing step. The height of the step, the injection distance and injection pressure were varied to investigate the effects of the step on air/fuel mixing characteristics. The results show that the recirculation region increases as the fuel injection pressure increases. For injection behind the backward-facing step, mixing efficiency is much higher than with a flat plate. Also, the injection position has a significant influence on the size of the recirculation region generated behind the backward-facing step. The schlieren photograph and pressure histories measured on the bottom wall of the SCRAM jet engine model show that the fuel was ignited behind the step.Communicated by K. Takayama PACS 47.40.Ki     

Improvement of a free piston driver for a high-enthalpy shock tunnel

In order to improve the operation of a high-enthalpy free piston shock tunnel its tuned operation was studied analytically and experimentally. First, the piston motion in the free piston driver tube was analytically solved by proposing a simple piston/gasdynamic model, and the tuned operation condition was formulated as an eigenvalue with which the piston has sufficiently high speed at the moment of diaphragm rupture, so as to maintain a constant driver gas pressure, and reduces its speed to come to rest when very closely approaching the end of the driver tube. Second, the result of this analysis was validated by its comparison with experiments which were conducted in the medium-sized free piston shock tunnel HEK installed at the NAL Kakuda Research Center. By observing the detail of piston landing at the end of the driver tube the present tuned operation was found to be successfully achieved with the operating condition given here. Its advantages in improving the pressure recovery factor and in enhancing the stagnation enthalpy were successfully demonstrated. Received 8 June 1997 / Accepted 1 October 1997     

Technique for aerodynamic force measurement within milliseconds in shock tunnel

For aerodynamic force measurement in shock tunnels and similar short duration aerodynamic testing facilities we have developed a novel measurement technique. Its key feature is a mounting support, which releases the test model and grips it again after a free flight duration of about 10 milliseconds. The model is equipped with small accelerometers and may contain additional installations. The short free flight allows the use of thin wires because the model travels only a few millimeters during this time. Validation experiments with a cone-cylinder of known drag coefficient show good accuracy with a response time of about half a millisecond. Pitot pressure measurement and suitable data processing allow for direct evaluation of aerodynamic coefficients in slowly changing flow.This article was processed using Springer-Verlag T_EX Shock Waves macro package 1990.     

Dust entrainment by means of a planar shock induced vortex over loose dust layers

Conclusions The recent study of Ben-Dor and Rayevsky (1994) regarding the interaction of planar shock waves with high density layers was reconsidered in order to demonstrate a possible dust entrainment mechanism which has not received appropriate attention so far. It was shown that, as a result of the interaction, a large vortex is generated. This vortex could in fact contribute to the entrainment of dust when planar shock waves interact with loose dusty layers.In addition, the effect of viscosity on the proposed dust entrainment mechanism was also considered.     

Numerical study of free-piston shock tunnel performance

A free-piston shock tunnel (FPST) is one of the most useful ground testing facilities for hypervelocity flow research of re-entry vehicles and scramjet engines. For an efficient operation with tuned piston motion, the design of facility and the comprehension of the physical phenomena in a FPST, a numerical simulation which can properly predicts the flow with actual losses is required. But there are few successful numerical methods which can simulate its overall performance. In the present study, numerical method was developed by using the KRC shock capturing scheme and by modeling the flow losses in suitable forms for a quasi-1D numerical computation. The present numerical results were compared with the data obtained in two different facilities, T4 and T5. The applicability of the present numerical method as a design tool is discussed briefly.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.     

Absolute intensity measurements of impurity emissions in a shock tunnel and their consequences for laser-induced fluorescence experiments

Absolute intensity measurements of impurity emissions in a shock tunnel nozzle flow are presented. The impurity emission intensities were measured with a photomultiplier and optical multichannel analyser and calibrated against an intensity standard. The various metallic contaminants were identified and their intensities measured in the spectral regions 290 to 330 nm and 375 to 385 nm. A comparison with calculated fluorescence intensities for predissociated laser-induced fluorescence signals is made. It is found that the emission background is negligible for most fluorescence experiments.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.     

Gaseous detonation driver for a shock tunnel

The concept of a shock tunnel with gaseous detonation driver is discussed. A detonation driver presents an alternative to a free-piston driver because comparable values of high enthalpy can be attained, however, without the fast movement of a heavy piston. Wave diagrams, pressure and temperature distributions are presented. Finally, first experimental results are given.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.     

Oblique shock/bow shock interference in rarefied flow past a cylinder

Direct statistical simulation is employed to study the flow of a rarefied diatomic gas past a cylinder in the presence of an incident oblique shock. The distinctive features of the formation of a high-pressure compressed-gas jet in the case of interference between the oblique shock and the bow shock are studied for different Reynolds numbers. The variation of the pressure and the heat transfer to the surface with the shock position relative to the center of the cylinder, the Reynolds number, and the surface temperature is analyzed. The results obtained are compared with the experimental data and the results of the numerical solutions of the Euler and boundary layer equations. Free-molecular-to-continuum flow transition is demonstrated with reference to the example of interference-free flow past a cylinder.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Academii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, 2004, pp. 171–180. Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Gusev and Erofeev.     

Aerodynamic force measurement using 3-component accelerometer force balance system in a hypersonic shock tunnel

A new three-component accelerometer force balance has been designed, calibrated and tested in hypersonic shock tunnel (HST2) of Indian Institute of Science. The newly designed balance is able to measure aerodynamic forces (within test time of one millisecond) on test models at angles of attack from 0 to 12°. Two models, a blunt cone with after body and a blunt cone with after body and frustum are used to establish the accuracy of the force balance. The tests were conducted for the above two configurations with a constant Mach number of 8 and total enthalpy of 2.0 MJ/kg. The effectiveness of the balance is demonstrated by comparing the forces and moments of measured data with AGARD models. The flow fields around the test model are simulated using a 3D axisymmetric Navier–Stokes solver and the simulated results were compared with the measured values. Measured and computed force data are matched within ±10% for two different models tested here. The accuracy of the force balance is also estimated with the Newtonian theory and the values are approximately ±10% for the axial component and ±8% for the normal and pitching moment components.      

Computational analysis of dense gas shock tube flow

Nonclassical phenomena associated with the classical dynamics of real gases in a conventional shock tube are studied. A TVD predictor-corrector (TVD-MacCormack) scheme with reflective endwall boundary conditions is used for the one-dimensional Euler equations to simulate the evolution of the wave field of a van der Waals gas. Depending upon the initial conditions of the gas, wave fields are produced that contain nonclassical phenomena such as expansion shocks, composite waves, splitting shocks, etc. In addition, the interactions of waves reflected from the endwalls produce both classical and nonclassical phenomena. Wave field evolution is depicted using plots of the flow variables at specific times and withx-t diagrams.