ISSN 0020-4412, Instruments and Experimental Techniques, 2008, Vol. 51, No. 5, pp. 748752. Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.

., 2008. Original Russian Text A.S. Chizhikov, 2008, published in Pribory i Tekhnika Eksperimenta, 2008, No. 5, pp. 118122.

GENERAL EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES

On Determination of Test Time in a Shock Tube

A. S. Chizhikov
Joint Institute of High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, Izhorskaya ul. 13/19, Moscow, 125412 Russia
Received December 25, 2007

AbstractA simple analytical solution to the problem of shock tube test time limitation is provided in the case in which the gas ow is investigated behind the incident shock wave from a channel of constant geometry located in the low-pressure section of the shock tube. Numerical simulation was performed. The good accuracy of the method is demonstrated by comparing its results to experimental data. PACS numbers: 07.35.+k DOI: 10.1134/S0020441208050175

INTRODUCTION The state of the art in development of means for diagnosing processes in pulsed ows turns a shock tube into a simple and convenient tool for laboratory investigations of various gas-dynamic subjects. Apart from auxiliary equipment, a shock tube consists of two sections separated by a diaphragm. The sections with highand low-pressure gas are called the driver and driven sections, respectively. When the diaphragm is broken, a shock wave is produced. The surface separating both gases is called the contact surface. The ow pattern is substantially simplied by the fact that a shock wave propagating in an immobile gas can be considered as nearly plane and the ow behind its front as one-dimensional. The possibility of determining the parameters of the ow from the initial conditions and one measurable quantitythe shock wave velocityis an indisputable advantage of a technique for investigations using an experimental facility of this type, while the limited lifetime of regions with constant parameters is its most serious drawback. There are two basic versions of the shock tube design, differing in whether the end face of the lowpressure section is fully open or fully closed. Both of these versions are used to study pulsed ows. However, in most cases, combinations of them, in which features of the ow in each of the designs are combined, must be dealt with. The aim of our study is to determine the limits on the time of gas outow from a nozzle that is located at the end of the shock tube and has a channel with a constant internal cross-section shape. PROBLEM STATEMENT In the case of perfect inviscid ow, the distance from the shock wave to the contact surface increases with distance to the diaphragm according to a linear law. In reality, formation of a boundary layer between the

shock wave and the contact surface results in deceleration of the shock wave and acceleration of the contact surface, which leads to a decrease in this distance. As a result, the test time may be less than one-half the estimated time. (These problems were considered in detail in [1, 2].) A true estimate of this quantity can be obtained only from experimental calibration of the shock tube. To avoid inuence of the boundary layer produced behind a shock wave in investigation of pulsed ows, a special insert is installed directly inside the tube at the outlet from the low-pressure section. This insert is a nozzle set on the end of the low-pressure section and used to fragmentarily cut the central part from the bulk of the gas (Fig. 1). Such a design of the experimental facility has some other advantages. For example, it offers a chance to investigate processes of gas outow from channels of different geometries merely by changing nozzles instead of each time designing the shock tube with a required cross-section shape. Among the drawbacks here are, rst, more stringent process requirements for the coincidence of axes of the construction and sharpening of the edges and, second, the necessity to determine the additional component of the observation time for this process, which is characterized by the geometric size of the nozzle.
1 2

3 4 W

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the outlet section of the shock tube: (1) low-pressure section, (2) nozzle, (3) obstacle, (4) Kistler-603B sensor, and (W) point for measuring the pressure.

748

ON DETERMINATION OF TEST TIME IN A SHOCK TUBE P* / P0 16 12 8 4 0 900

749

1000

1100

1200

1300

1400

1500 t, s

Fig. 2. Change in the pressure at the obstacle at the center of the ow (point W in Fig. 1) at starting-wave Mach number Ms = 2.01 and L = 0.5d for air at 20C: (1) primary and (2) secondary shock waves.

parameters of the effusing gas is gradually smoothed, thus introducing a systematic error in the experimental data. It is therefore of principal importance that the observation time for the process under investigation be correctly limited when analyzing and processing the experimental results. The actual ow pattern formed in the shock tube is an intricate continuum of compressed gas and discontinuity surfaces (Fig. 3), which has deed rigorous mathematical solution. When dened in this manner, the problem of determining the test time of the experiment can be divided into three subsections and considered simultaneously: (i) a ow in the region between the walls of the tube and the insert (a narrow channel), (ii) passing of the incident shock wave into the external space, and (iii) formation and propagation of the secondary shock wave in the carrying ow. A COMPUTATIONAL ALGORITHM AND COMPARISON WITH THE EXPERIMENT Let us assume that the front of the shock wave formed after opening of the diaphragm in the low-pressure section reaches the end wall of the tube at zero time. (Incidentally, we consider that the speeds of front propagation at the central and external gas regions separated by the insert are equal.) According to the design diagram shown in Fig. 4, the test time of the process in the laboratory system of coordinates can be described by the equation l3 l2 l2 + l3 - ------, dt = -----+ ----------------W 'r 2 + W 's W s
Mach number 2.5

In experiment, the limitation of the shock tube test time due to partial reection of the shock wave from the end wall is clearly identied from pressure oscillograms if the distances to the outlet are rather short, (0.51.5)d (d is the equivalent diameter). Figure 2 shows the pressure variations at a plane obstacle perpendicular to the axis of the ow, the ow Mach number behind the shock wave being close to unity. In this case, the test time is limited by a value of 352 s. From the shape of the curve, it is apparent that this perturbation is of shock nature. As the distance from the outlet of the channel increases, this step in the values of
P / P0 20

Fig. 3. Mechanism of nonstationary pressure shock occurring inside the channel behind the reected wave (Ms = 2.07, air). The Mach number at the axis is shown with a solid line, the static pressure is shown with a dashed line, the pressure eld is presented with isolines, and the magnitude and direction of the velocity are indicated with arrows. INSTRUMENTS AND EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES Vol. 51 No. 5 2008

750 l A ISW B l1 l2

CHIZHIKOV

l3

Fig. 4. Design diagram for determining the test time of the process due to reection of the shock wave from the end wall: (, B) base sensors, (ISW) incident shock wave (in this case, Ms = 1.97, air); the gases under investigation behind the shock and reected waves are indicated with solid and dashed lines, respectively.

where W 'r is the averaged velocity of perturbation due to the reected shock wave, 2 is the velocity of ow, ' is the velocity of the secondary shock wave formed Ws directly in the channel of the nozzle under investigation through the pressure gradient, and Ws if the velocity of the primary shock wave. The unknown quantities in the right part of the equation are W 'r and W 's . The values of shock velocity Ws are found experimentally by measuring the time interval on base l, Ws = l/t. The wave Mach number is calculated thereafter, Ms = Ws/a1, where a1 is the sound speed in the unperturbed gas. The relationship for velocity of ow behind the shock wave 2 can be found using the one-dimensional theory of normal shock wave. If the gas in the shock tube is in a state of rest, we have 2 a1 1 - M s ------ . 2 = ---------- k+1 M s The temperature ratio at the shock wave front is P2 1 T2 ---- , i.e., ---- = ----P1 2 T1 k 1 k 1 2 kM 2 ---------- M s + 1 - --------- s 2 2 T2 -. ---- = ------------------------------------------------------------------2 T1 k + 1 2 ----------- M 2 s The W 'r value can be determined by measuring the time interval on segment l1. No auxiliary equipment is required; only one of the base sensors is used (the nearest to the outlet). The rst signal from the sensor is induced by the incident shock wave front, and the sec-

ond is due to the perturbation from the nozzle ange (the end wall of the tube). The time interval between the two signals from the sensor is l1 l1 = -----+ ------, W s W 'r whence it follows that l1 -. W 'r = ------------------- l1 / W s In the rst approximation, it is expedient that the velocity of the reected wave be determined from the one-dimensional theory in the case when the end of the low-pressure section is fully closed, whereas experimental data should be used to estimate the correctness of this approximation. A pictorial presentation of the relationship between the velocities of the incident and reected shock waves is given in Fig. 5. Comparison of the theoretical curve with the experimental data for the reected wave shows that complex wave processes in the region between the walls of the shock tube and the external surface of the ring insert affect its propagation velocity only slightly. The velocity determined thereby is used thereafter to evaluate the Mach number for the reected wave, M 'r = ( W 'r + 2 ) / a 2 , and the sound speed behind the shock front, T2 a 2 = a 1 ----. T1 At normal reection of the shock wave from the at wall, the gas velocity behind it is zero; the gas loses all its kinetic energy as it passes through the reected wave front. Therefore, the region behind the reected shock wave can be presented as an immobile gas at high values of temperature, density, and pressure. If the Mach number of the reected wave is known, we can write
Vol. 51 No. 5 2008

INSTRUMENTS AND EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES

ON DETERMINATION OF TEST TIME IN A SHOCK TUBE Ws / Wr, m/s 1200 1 800 500 2 1 400 2 250 3 0 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Ms 0 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 dt, s 750

751

3.0 Ms

Fig. 5. Propagation velocities of (1) incident Ws and (2) reected Wr shock waves in the shock tube for air at 20 (the experimental data are shown with dots).

Fig. 6. Comparison of the theoretical curve with the experimental data: (1) air, (2) carbon dioxide, (3) helium, and () point corresponding to the experimental oscillogram in Fig. 2.

(k 1) P5 ----= -----------------------------------k+1 P2

2 2 kM 'r

and

k + 1 P5 ----------- + ----T 5 P5 k 1 P2 -, ---- = ----- --------------------------T 2 P2 k + 1 P5 --------------1+ k 1 P2

where the subscripts 2 and 5 correspond to the parameters behind the incident and reected shock waves, respectively. On the other hand, by analogy to the dependence for the initial differential pressure at the diaphragm, which is compared to experiment in [3], we can also write ' (k 1) 2 kM s P5 k 1 ' 1 a 2 - 1 ----------- M ------ -------= ----------------------------------- k+1 k + 1 s M 's a 5 P2
2 2k ---------k1

Therefore, the Mach number of the secondary shock wave generated by the differential pressure is M 's = f ( k, P 5 / P 2 ) , and the velocity of this wave in the carrying ow is W 's = M 's a 2 . The Mach number of the secondary shock wave appears to be considerably smaller than that of the incident shock wave. Thus, e.g., for air at 20C, M 's = 1.326
Table Parameter Molecular weight, g/mol Ratio of specific heats Sound speed, m/s Gas He 4.0 1.667 1005 Air 28.9 1.402 344 CO2 44 1.297 271

corresponds to Mach number of the starting wave Ms = 2 and Ms = 3 M 's = 1.478 corresponds to Ms = 3. Our experiment was carried out on the shock tube with medium values of the Mach number; the length of the driver section was 2 m, and the length of the driven section was 4 m (l2 = 95 mm and l3 = 60 mm). The calculated observation times for the process due to reection of the shock wave from the nozzle ange for different gases are compared in Fig. 6 to the experimental results for air; formation of the secondary shock wave in the channel was taken into account in the calculation. The properties of the gases (101 kPa, 293 K) are presented in the table. The experimental data are in good agreement with the calculation; the relative error averaged over 47 points is 2.52%. The problem is thought to be solved. DISCUSSION The proposed method is based on the one-dimensional theory of the shock wave with the following assumptions. (1) The velocities of the primary wave inside the channel and in the region between the external surface of the insert and the internal surface of the shock tube are equal. This problem is similar to the ow in a narrow channel. While putting aside the spatial form of the bodies at hand, we can present the ow pattern in this region as a two-dimensional nonstationary problem of halfwedge ow in a limited half-space. The scheme of supersonic gas ow around a half-wedge in a shock tube was investigated in [4]. At zero time of interaction between the shock wave and the sharpened edge of the nozzle located inside the shock tube, the shock wave is reected. According to [5], the following types of wave conguration may be realized thereby: simple Mach
Vol. 51 No. 5 2008

INSTRUMENTS AND EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES

752

CHIZHIKOV

reection, reection with a kink on the reected wave, double Mach reection, and regular reection. This phase is very short. As the shock wave moves away (if the ow is supersonic), an attached shock wave and the Mach line are formed at the nose of the wedge. (2) The gas parameters in the region between the internal surface of the shock tube and the external surface of the insert are equal to the gas parameters in the region behind the reected shock wave, as in the onedimensional case. In the experiment, the ratio of the inner cross-sectional area of the channel to the total cross-sectional area of the tube is 0.196 (1/5) and the ratio of the area of the channels wall to the difference in area between the tubes channel and the inner cross section is 0.169 (1/6). The inset in Fig. 5 shows the cross section of the shock tube plotted with adherence to proportions: external diameter of the channel, 20 mm; thickness of the wall, 3 mm; and equivalent (in area) internal radius of the tube, 22.6 mm. As a result, if the linear dimensions provide similar ratios of areas, the velocity of the reected wave can be determined with a high degree of reliability using results of calculations based on the one-dimensional theory. In the case of signicant difference, the necessity arises to experimentally determine the velocity of the reected wave and approximate it thereafter. (3) A hypothesis is offered that the secondary shock wave is formed in the channel. At the instant of time when the reected wave front reaches the edge of the insert, the differential pressure in the channel gives rise to a secondary shock wave; it is this wave that limits the test time in the experiment. Since this phenomenon occurs inside the shock tube and cannot be directly observed in an experiment, the priority in verifying the hypothesis goes to numerical computation. A stepwise change in the pressure at the obstacle is one more piece of evidence for this hypothesis. Analysis of the test time in the shock tube not only provides reasonable representation of results of our study, but also acts as an additional criterion of whether the design of the experiment is correct. As an example, let us consider the situation when gases with different

physical properties (the molecular weight and the ratio of specic heats) are used to obtain a more powerful shock wave. If the purity of the work gas in the lowpressure section appears to be inadequate for any reason, a shorter test time of the experiment will act as an indicator. CONCLUSIONS The solution obtained in our study is suitable for calculating the limitation of the observation time for process of gas outow from the channel of constant geometry located in the low-pressure section of the shock tube and used to fragmentarily cut the central part of the gas ow, which is insusceptible to effects of the boundary layer. Our results can be used in investigations on shock tubes and in design of a facility with prescribed parameters. The technique for determining the test time in the shock tube was developed and tested at the Laboratory for Nonstationary Gas-Dynamic Processes of the Russian Academy of Sciences Joint Institute of High Temperatures. The numerical simulation of the process was performed using the FlowVision software package. REFERENCES
1. Mirels, H., Raketnaya Tekh. Kosmonavtika, 1964, vol. 2, no. 1, p. 114; AIAA J., 1964, vol. 2, p. 84. 2. Geidon, A. and Gerl, I., Udarnaya truba v khimicheskoi zike vysokikh temperatur (Shock Tube in Chemical Physics of High Temperature), Moscow: Mir, 1966. 3. Resler, E., Lin, Sh.-Ch., and Kantrovits, A., in Mekhanika, sborniki perevodov i obzorov inostrannoi periodicheskoi literatury (Mechanics, Collections of Translations and Reviews of Foreign Periodic Literature), 1953, issue 5, no. 21, p. 33; J. Appl. Phys., 1952, vol. 23, no. 12, p. 1930. 4. Naboko, I.M., Issledovaniya po zicheskoi gazodinamike (Investigations on Physical Gas Dynamics), Moscow: Nauka, 1966, pp. 172179. 5. Bazhenova, T.V. and Gvozdeva, L.G., Nestatsionarnye vzaimodeistviya udarnykh voln v gazakh (Nonstationary Interactions of Shock Waves in Gases), Moscow: Nauka, 1977.

INSTRUMENTS AND EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES

Vol. 51

No. 5

2008