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The impact of a shock wave on a movable wall

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2006

R. F. Meyer
R. F. Meyer
Affiliation:
Department of the Mechanics of Fluids, University of Manchester
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Abstract

An approximate solution is devised for the one-dimensional motion following the impact of a shock wave on a wall which is free to move. The approximate solution neglects changes in entropy occurring through the reflected and transmitted shocks, thus reducing the problem to one of a simple wave type. The asymptotic behaviour of the system is considered and it is shown by exact physical argument that the transmitted shock eventually attains the same strength as the incident shock and that the reflected shock ultimately decays to a sound wave.

An experimental investigation of the interaction was made, using thin walls of cellulose acetate, in a shock tube at an incident shock Mach number of 1·50. Agreement between the theoretical and experimental results, especially for the path followed by the wall, was found to be good.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , December 1957 , pp. 309 - 323
Copyright
© 1957 Cambridge University Press

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References

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