Shock wave trapping

This paper presents a two-dimensional investigation into the effectiveness of trapping shock and blast waves in a duct in order to enhance attenuation, by placing an array of opposing wedges in the channel. The concept of the wedge arrangement in the trap is to allow easy shock wave entry, with weak reflected shocks, into the trap, but stronger internal reflected shocks if a wave is re-emering. The internal reflections, including those of vortices shed from earlier shock passage, result in strong shock attenuation. Different wedge placements, wedge angles, and area blockages are investigated numerically, as well as experimentally for a particular case, using pressure measurement and schlieren photography. Received 4 August 1995 / Accepted 12 December 1995