Stability of converging shock wave

• Main Author: Fong, Kenneth Sau-Kin
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Shock waves
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/21073

The stability of converging waves was analysed with theory and by experiment. A computer code was written in FORTRAN language for the calculation of wavefront positions of plane shock waves and cylindrical converging shock waves in ideal gas. The criteria for stability were defined and the limit of stability of imploding shock waves was obtained using the code. In order to test the model, an experiment was set up to generate shock waves in an electrothermal shock tube. These shock waves were made to propagate into a wedged channel, and the variations of the shapes of the waves front were measured from high speed framing camera pictures. Good agreement was found between the experimentally observed velocity and the model calculation, indicating that the computer procedure is a valid method to analyse the stability of converging waves. === Science, Faculty of === Physics and Astronomy, Department of === Graduate