Numerical analysis of weak shock attenuation resulting from molecular vibrational relaxation

The attenuation of a weak shock wave generated by the explosion of a unit mass of TNT was numerically analyzed. The effects of viscous and thermal conduction losses and of the molecular vibrational relaxation of oxygen and nitrogen molecules were considered. The effect of each diffusion term on wave attenuation and waveform change was investigated in detail. In addition, the characteristics of each attenuation effect were examined by frequency analysis.