Controlling the form of strong converging shocks by means of disturbances

The influence of artificial disturbances on the behavior of strong converging cylindrical shocks is investigated experimentally and numerically. Ring-shaped shocks, generated in an annular cross sectional shock tube are transformed to converging cylindrical shocks in a thin cylindrical test section, mounted at the rear end of the shock tube. The converging cylindrical shocks are perturbed by small cylinders placed at different locations and in various patterns in the test section. Their influence on the shock convergence and reflection process is investigated. It is found that disturbances arranged in a symmetrical pattern will produce a symmetrical deformation of the converging shockfront. For example, a square formation produces a square-like shock and an octagon formation a shock with an octagonal front. This introduces an alternative way of tailoring the form of a converging shock, instead of using a specific form of a reflector boundary. The influence of disturbances arranged in non-symmetric patterns on the shape of the shockfront is also investigated.