Oblique shock

About: Oblique shock is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6551 publications have been published within this topic receiving 119823 citations.

Molecular Velocity Distribution Function Measurements in a Normal Shock Wave

Abstract: Molecular velocity distribution functions have been measured throughout a normal, M = 1.59 helium shock wave that was formed in a low‐density wind tunnel. The measurements were obtained by using the electron beam fluorescence technique. Throughout the shock transition, distributions of random velocities were observed from directions both parallel and perpendicular to the flow. Also, direct measurements were made of the density and the flow velocity. The shock wave satisfied the continuity, momentum, and energy equations within the accuracy of the measurements. Parallel and perpendicular temperatures compare favorably to predictions derived from the Navier‐Stokes equations. In the upstream portion of the shock the distributions of parallel peculiar molecular velocities predicted according to the Chapman‐Enskog first iterate differ significantly from the experimental results, although as mentioned the second moments or temperatures agree with the Navier‐Stokes values.

An investigation of shock strengthening in a conical convergent channel

Abstract: The behaviour of an initially plane, strong shock wave propagating into a conical convergence is investigated experimentally and theoretically. In the experiment a 10° half-angle cone is mounted on the end of a pressure-driven shock tube. Shock waves with initial Mach numbers varying from 6.0 to 10·2 are generated in argon a t a pressure of 1·5 Torr. During each run local shock velocities a t several positions along the cone axis are measured using a thin multi-crystal piezoelectric probe inserted from the vertex. This technique produces accurate velocity data for both the incident and reflected shock waves. In the corresponding analysis, a simplified characteristics method is used to obtain an approximate solution of the axisymmetric diffraction equations derived by Whitham (1959). Both the shock velocity measurements and the axisymmetric diffraction solution confirm that the incident shock behaviour is dominated by cyclic diffraction processes which originate at the entrance of the cone. Each diffraction cycle is characterized by Mach reflexion on the cone wall followed by Mach reflexion on the axis, These cycles evidently persist until the shock reaches the cone vertex, where the measured velocity has increased by as much as a factor of three. Real-gas effects, enhanced in the experiment by increasing the initial Mach number and decreasing the pressure, apparently alter the shock wave behaviour only in the region near the vertex. Velocity measurements for the reflected shock within the cone show that the shock velocity is nearly constant throughout most of the convergence length.

The reflexion of a shock wave at a rigid wall in the presence of a boundary layer

Abstract: The paper discusses the reflexion of a shock wave off a rigid wall in the presence of a boundary layer. The basic idea is to treat the problem not as a reflexion but as a refraction process. The structure of the wave system is deduced by a simple mapping procedure. It is found that a Mach stem is always present and that the bottom of this wave is bifurcated—called a lambda foot. The reflexion is said to be regular if the Mach stem and the lambda foot are confined to the boundary layer and irregular if either extends into the main stream. Two types of regular reflexion are found, one that has reflected compression waves and the other that has both reflected compression and expansion waves. Initial conditions are given that enable one to decide which type will appear. There are also two types of irregular reflexion, one that has a Mach stem present in the main stream and the other that is characterized by a four-wave confluence. Finally there are also two processes by which regular reflexions become irregular. One is due to the formation of a downstream shock wave that subsequently sweeps upstream to establish the irregular system and the other is due to boundary-layer separation which forces the lambda foot into the main stream.