Characterization of a novel open-ended shock tube facility based on detonation transmission tubing

Abstract

Abstract This paper proposes and demonstrates a novel shock tube driven by commercially available detonation transmission tubing in a safe, repeatable, and controllable manner for laboratory scale experiments. A circular cross-sectional open-ended shock tube (inner-diameter D = 22 mm ) driven by detonation transmission tubing was used to investigate the working principle of this novel shock tube using a dynamic pressure transducer and time-resolved shadowgraph photography. Specifically, the shock Mach number, repeatability, and flow structure generated from the tube exit were characterized. The experimental result shows that the flow structure including an initial shock wave, a vortex ring, an embedded shock, and an oblique shock pattern is similar to that of the conventional compressed-gas driven shock tubes. Furthermore, the shock tube has good repeatability of less than 2% with a shock Mach number up to 1.58. The versatile and cost-effective nature of the shock tube driven by detonation transmission tubing opens a new horizon for shock wave-assisted interdisciplinary applications.