Shock Tube Driver Techniques and Attenuation Measurements

摘要

The development of the hypersonic shock tunnel at the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, Inc. has been accompanied by a study of various techniques for producing strong shock waves to drive the shock tunnel. The results of this study are described as to technique and relative efficiency of different driver gases, and the resultant attenuation of the shock wave in the low pressure tube. It has been found that as the strength of the shock wave increases so does the amount of attenuation. Furthermore, the more efficient a given driver technique is in producing a shock wave, the larger the degree of attenuation that is observed.nA survey of the presently available theories on shock wave atten¬uation indicates that the theories do not accurately predict the atten¬uation of shock waves having Mach numbers greater than 2, whereas all of the experimental data reported herein are for shock wave Mach numbers greater than 4, This serves to illustrate the need for a better under¬standing of the attenuation of strong shock waves.