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The work is dedicated to the experimental and numerical study of the mechanisms of gaseous detonation initiation in a stoichiometric hydrogen–oxygen mixture due to the reflection of a shock wave from a complex-shaped end wall. Several elliptic surfaces of different geometries, including distributed ones, were considered. We refer to such reflectors with multiple elliptical surfaces as multi-focusing systems. The experiments were carried out in a shock tube. Visualization of the process was carried out with a high-speed schlieren system. In the experiments, the ignition delay times and the critical incident shock wave Mach number for detonation initiation were measured. Two-dimensional Euler simulations, on a fully unstructured computational grid, were carried out to determine the mechanism of detonation initiation. The numerical approach was verified using the experimentally measured ignition delay times. Reasonable agreement between the simulations and experiments for the critical Mach number of detonation initiation and for the efficiency of various multi-focusing systems for detonation initiation was achieved. Different regimes of detonation initiation depending on the incident shock wave Mach number were observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments have been conducted in a supersonic rectangular duct (Mach 1.4), with a normal shock wave/boundary layer interaction. The duct is designed in a modular fashion so that its aspect ratio can be varied without a change in the flow geometry. The shock location, duct height, and Mach number are kept constant, while varying the aspect ratio. Conventional and inclined schlieren techniques have been used to visualize the normal shock. The height and width of the "normal part" of the normal shock have been measured. A parameter termed area fraction of the normal shock is used to quantify the extent of shock bifurcation, and the effect of the duct aspect ratio on this parameter is studied. It has been found that a nearly square duct is the preferred geometry for maximizing the area fraction of the normal shock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For stoichiometric C2H4–O2 and C2H2–O2 mixtures with or without argon dilution, the processes of detonation diffraction have been investigated in a two-dimensional setup through high-speed schlieren imaging, with the characteristic length and the stability of detonation varied by regulating the initial pressure and argon mole fraction of the mixture. In particular, a length relevant to the process of supercritical diffraction (i.e., distance from the channel end corner to reflection point of the transverse detonation on the channel end face, reflection point distance in short) was deduced from obtained sequential schlieren images and analyzed. The reflection point distance can be idealized for the infinitely wide donor channel, and thus, it can be a parameter in which properties intrinsic to each detonable mixture are manifested. Experimental results showed that the reflection point distance was roughly inversely proportional to the initial pressure for identical mixtures and independent of the width of the donor channel at high initial pressures. For a certain combination of the fuel and oxidizer, correlations between the reflection point distance and the initial partial pressure of fuel were very similar regardless of the argon mole fraction. Critical conditions of the diffraction problem could be given for the ratio of the reflection point distance to the channel width, and it was suggested that the critical value lies in a range of 3–5 and does not significantly depend on the stability of the mixture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the dynamics of a high-speed shock-induced flow near the open end of a shock tube using the particle image velocimetry (PIV) and the background oriented schlieren (BOS) methods along with two- and three-dimensional numerical simulations. In experiments, planar shock waves ( $$M=1.3$$ -1.6) are discharged from a rectangular ( $$24\,\hbox {mm} \times 48\,\hbox {mm}$$ ) low-pressure section of a shock tube open to the atmosphere. Due to the rectangular exit geometry, the resulting flow is highly three-dimensional and, thus, more complicated, compared to well-studied circular/axisymmetric geometries. The study focuses on the spatio-temporal flow structure up to 1 ms after the shock wave diffraction. PIV and BOS visualization techniques share the same post-processing principle, and the iterative multi-step cross-correlation algorithm applied in the PIV software is adapted here for the calculation of background pattern displacement on the BOS images. Particular attention is given to the resolution of flow regions where sharp gradients are present, such as a diffracted shock front or embedded shocks. Computational fluid dynamic simulations of the problem are also conducted to validate the experimental results and methods and to gain more insight into the three-dimensional flow dynamics. PIV and BOS images are found to be consistent with the corresponding numerical flow visualizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schlieren visualisations are used to investigate the influence of cylindrical surface curvature on both the time-invariant and oscillatory behaviour of the shock structures within underexpanded jets impinging on to a surface. At moderate standoff distances $$\left( \frac{h}{d} < 5\right) $$ , the impingement surface curvature affects the temporal behaviour of the flow significantly, but with only slight variations in the time-invariant structure. A convex surface curvature constrains flapping oscillations to a single plane, the normal of which is parallel to the cylinder axis; the oscillation frequency is largely unaffected. For the standoff distances and nozzle pressure ratios studied, concave surface curvature suppresses the formation of impingement tones. A mechanism is proposed whereby entrainment of the recirculated wall jet flow alters the shear layer receptivity to acoustic disturbances, breaking the acoustic feedback loop that drives the jet oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weak spherical blast waves in static air and their breakup of ethanol and Jet A-1 kerosene droplets were investigated. The blast waves were created by laser-induced air breakdowns at ambient temperature and pressure. In the first part of this study, they were visualized with schlieren imaging, and their trajectories were tracked with high temporal resolution. The laser pulse energy was varied to create blast waves of different strengths. Their initial energies were determined by the application of a numerical and a semi-empirical blast wave model. In the second part, monodisperse ethanol and kerosene droplet chains were injected. Their interaction with the blast waves was visualized by the application of shadowgraph imaging. The perpendicular distance of the breakdown origin toward the droplet chains was varied to study the effect on the fuel droplets as a function of the distance. Droplets within a few millimeters around the breakdown origin were disintegrated into two to three secondary droplets. The blast-induced flow velocities on the post-shock side and the corresponding Weber numbers were calculated from the data of a non-dimensional numerical simulation, and a close look was taken at the breakup process of the droplets. The analysis showed that the aerodynamic force of the blast-induced flow was sufficient to deform the droplets into disk-like shapes, but diminished too fast to accomplish breakup. Due to the release of strain energy, the deformed droplets relaxed, stretched into filaments and finally disintegrated by capillary pinching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results of an experimental study of blast wave propagation and particle dispersion induced by a free-field detonation of spherical charges made of a 125 g C-4 explosive surrounded by inert or reactive particles. Visualization of the flow was performed with a high-frame-rate video camera. Background oriented Schlieren (BOS) methods were adapted to process the images that allowed the detection of the shock waves. BOS analysis also revealed that particles form agglomerates, which may generate precursor perturbations on the recorded pressure signals. While inert glass particles notably delay the shock, the combustion of aluminium particles can accelerate it, especially if they are small atomized or flaked particles. When a mixture of inert glass particles with reactive particles is dispersed, the agglomerates are formed by coalescence of both materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental testing was conducted for a planar shock wave of incident Mach number $$M_\mathrm{s} = 1.33$$ propagating through one of three compound parabolic profiles of 130, 195 or 260 mm in length, all of which exhibit an 80 % reduction in area. Both high-resolution single shot and low-resolution video were used in a schlieren arrangement. Results showed three main types of flow scenarios for propagation through a gradual area reduction, and an optimal net increase of 12.7 % in shock Mach number was determined for the longest profile, which is within 5 % of theoretical predictions using Milton's modified Chester-Chisnell-Whitham relation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The behavior of an aluminum door hanging at the exit of an open shock tube at different angles, from 5 $$^\circ $$ to 85 $$^\circ $$, and thereby providing partially open space for the exiting flow, was investigated experimentally. Experiments were conducted with an incident shock wave Mach number of $$M_\mathrm{is}=1.1$$ impinging on the partially opened door. Both pressure measurements in the vicinity of the door, on its center and inside the shock tube, and schlieren visualization were undertaken for studying the door movement and its maximum opening angle relative to its initial position. It was found that for an initial opening angle smaller than 25 $$^\circ $$ the door opened completely while for larger angles its motion is marginal. In addition, for an initial door opening angle of about 10 $$^\circ $$ the lowest pressures were recorded inside the shock tube behind the evolving waves after exiting of the incident shock wave. The present experimental results may be useful to numerical studies of fluid-structure interactions, e.g., in designing safety valves in jet engines. Such a device is needed for preventing rupture in the case when a sudden overpressure pulse is generated inside the aircraft engine compartment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During previous investigations on pseudo-shock systems, we have observed reproducible differences between measurement and simulations for the pressure distribution as well as for size and shape of the pseudo-shock system. A systematic analysis of the deviations leads to the conclusion that small gaps of $$\Delta z=O(10^{-4})$$ m between quartz glass side walls and metal contour of the test section are responsible for this mismatch. This paper describes a targeted experimental and numerical study of the bypass mass flow within these gaps and its interaction with the main flow. In detail, we analyze how the pressure distribution within the channel as well as the size, shape and oscillation of the pseudo-shock system are affected by the gap size. Numerical simulations are performed to display the flow inside the gaps and to reproduce and explain the experimental results. Numerical and experimental schlieren images of the pseudo-shock system are in good agreement and show that especially the structure of the primary shock is significantly altered by the presence of small gaps. Extensive unsteady flow simulations of the geometry with gaps reveal that the shear layer between subsonic gap flow and supersonic core flow is subject to a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability resulting in small pressure fluctuations. This leads to a shock oscillation with a frequency of $$f= O(10^5) \hbox {s}^{-1}$$ . The corresponding time scale $$\tau $$ (s) is 16 times higher than the characteristic time scale $$\tau _\delta =\delta /U_\infty $$ of the boundary layer given by the ratio of the boundary layer thickness $$\delta $$ directly ahead of the shock and the undisturbed free stream velocity $$U_\infty $$ . To assess the reliability of our numerical investigations, the paper includes a grid study as well as an extensive comparison of several RANS turbulence models and their impact on the predicted shape of pseudo-shock systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes an attempt of quantitative visualization of open-air explosions via the background-oriented schlieren method (BOS). The shock wave propagation curve and overpressure distribution were extracted from the obtained images and compared with the results of the numerical analysis. The potential of extracting the density distribution behind the shock front is also demonstrated. Two open-air explosions were conducted; one with a $$36$$ -kg emulsion explosive and the other with a $$7.89$$ -kg composition C4 explosive. A high-speed digital video camera was used with a frame rate of $$10{,}000\,\mathrm{Hz}$$ and a pixel size of $$800 \times 600$$ . A natural background, including trees and grass, was used for BOS measurements instead of the random dots used in a laboratory. The overpressure distribution given by the passing shock was estimated from the visualized images. The estimated overpressures agreed with the values recorded by pressure transducers in the test field. The background displacement caused by light diffraction inside the spherical shock waves was in good agreement, except at the shock front. The results shown here suggest that the BOS method for open-air experiments could provide increasingly better quantitative and conventional visualization results with increasing spatial resolution of high-speed cameras. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two underexpanded free jets at fully expanded Mach numbers $$M_\mathrm{j}$$ = 1.15 and 1.50 are studied. Schlieren visualizations as well as measurements of static pressure, Pitot pressure and velocity are performed. All these experimental techniques are associated to obtain an accurate picture of the jet flow development. In particular, expansion, compression and neutral zones have been identified in each shock cell. Particle lag is considered by integrating the equation of motion for particles in a fluid flow and it is found that the laser Doppler velocimetry is suitable for investigating shock-containing jets. Even downstream of the normal shock arising in the $$M_\mathrm{j}$$ = 1.50 jet, the measured gradual velocity decrease is shown to be relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The applicability of the particle image velocimetry (PIV) and the background-oriented schlieren (BOS) techniques in the high-enthalpy shock tunnel Göttingen of the German Aerospace Center, DLR is demonstrated. As a part of this feasibility study two different experiments are performed. The velocity field past a wedge in a Mach 6 flow at a total specific enthalpy of 1.5 MJ/kg is determined by means of PIV and the results are compared to numerical predictions. The BOS technique is applied to investigate the density field in the shock layer of a sphere at 12 and 22 MJ/kg total specific enthalpies. Using a ray tracer method, the BOS results are compared to the data obtained by corresponding numerical computations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To prevent damage caused by accidental overpressure inside a closed duct (e.g. jet engine) safety valves are introduced. The present study experimentally investigates the dynamic opening of such valves by employing a door at the end of a shock tube driven section. The door is hung on an axis and is free to rotate, thereby opening the tube. The evolved flow and wave pattern due to a collision of an incident shock wave with the door, causing the door opening, is studied by employing a high speed schlieren system and recording pressures at different places inside the tube as well as on the rotating door. Analyzing this data sheds light on the air flow evolution and the behavior of the opening door. In the present work, emphasis is given to understanding the complex, unsteady flow developed behind the transmitted shock wave as it diffracts over the opening door. It is shown that both the door inertia and the shock wave strength influence the opening dynamic evolution, but not in the proportions that might be expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  The dual bell nozzle is a concept of altitude adaptive nozzles. The flow adapts to the altitude by separation at the wall inflection at low altitude, and full flowing at high altitude. To understand the phenomenology of the flow by the transition from sea-level mode to high altitude mode, a series of tests have been made at the cold flow test bench P6.2 at DLR Lampoldshausen. A dual bell nozzle have been successively shorten and driven in the same conditions for each length. Hence it was possible to observe the flow in the vicinity of the wall inflection using Schlieren optics. Furthermore this study yields the influence of the length ratio between basis and extension on the transition conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  This paper describes application of a background oriented schlieren technique in order to obtain quantitative measurements of shock waves from explosions by processing high speed digital video recordings. The technique is illustrated by an analysis of two explosions, a high explosive test and a hydrogen gas explosion test. The visualization of the shock front is utilized to calculate the shock Mach number, leading to a predicted shock front pressure. For high explosives the method agreed quite well with a standard curve for side-on shock pressures. In the case of the gas explosion test we can also show that the shock front is non-spherical. It should be possible to develop this technique to investigate external blast waves and external explosions from vented gas explosions in more details. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  Experiments to demonstrate the use of the background-oriented schlieren (BOS) technique in hypersonic impulse facilities are reported. BOS uses a simple optical set-up consisting of a structured background pattern, an electronic camera with a high shutter speed and a high intensity light source. The visualization technique is demonstrated in a small reflected shock tunnel with a Mach 4 conical nozzle, nozzle supply pressure of 2.2 MPa and nozzle supply enthalpy of 1.8 MJ/kg. A 20� sharp circular cone and a model of the MUSES-C re-entry body were tested. Images captured were processed using PIV-style image analysis to visualize variations in the density field. The shock angle on the cone measured from the BOS images agreed with theoretical calculations to within 0.5�. Shock standoff distances could be measured from the BOS image for the re-entry body. Preliminary experiments are also reported in higher enthalpy facilities where flow luminosity can interfere with imaging of the background pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments to demonstrate the use of the background-oriented schlieren (BOS) technique in hypersonic impulse facilities are reported. BOS uses a simple optical set-up consisting of a structured background pattern, an electronic camera with a high shutter speed and a high intensity light source. The visualization technique is demonstrated in a small reflected shock tunnel with a Mach 4 conical nozzle, nozzle supply pressure of 2.2 MPa and nozzle supply enthalpy of 1.8 MJ/kg. A 20° sharp circular cone and a model of the MUSES-C re-entry body were tested. Images captured were processed using PIV-style image analysis to visualize variations in the density field. The shock angle on the cone measured from the BOS images agreed with theoretical calculations to within 0.5°. Shock standoff distances could be measured from the BOS image for the re-entry body. Preliminary experiments are also reported in higher enthalpy facilities where flow luminosity can interfere with imaging of the background pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The onset of Mach reflection or regular reflection at the vertices of a converging polygonal shock wave was investigated experimentally in a horizontal annular shock tube. The converging shock waves were visualized by schlieren optics. Two different types of polygonal shock convergence patterns were observed. We compared the behavior during the focusing process for triangular and square-shaped shocks. It is shown that once a triangular shaped shock is formed, the corners in the converging shock will undergo regular reflection and consequently the shape will remain unaltered during the focusing process. A square-shaped shock suffers Mach reflections at the corners and hence a reconfiguring process takes place; the converging shock wave alternates between a square and an octagon formation during the focusing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-speed combustible gas ignited by a hot gas jet, which is induced by shock focusing, was experimentally investigated. By use of the separation mode of shock tube, the test section of a single shock tube is split into two parts, which provide the high-speed flow of combustible gas and pilot flame of hot gas jet, respectively. In the interface of two parts of test sections the flame of jet was formed and spread to the high-speed combustible gas. Two kinds of the ignitions, 3-D “line-flame ignition” and 2-D “plane-flame ignition”, were investigated. In the condition of 3-D “line-flame ignition” of combustion, thicker hot gas jet than pure air jet, was observed in schlieren photos. In the condition of 2-D “plane-flame ignition” of combustion, the delay time of ignition and the angle of flame front in schlieren photos were measured, from which the velocity of flame propagation in the high-speed combustible gas is estimated in the range of 30–90m/s and the delay time of ignition is estimated in the range of 0.12–0.29ms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]