Compressible Vortex-Ring Interaction Studies with a Number of Generic Body Configurations

Abstract

An experimental study has been conducted to examine compressible vortex ring structure and propagation, and the interaction of vortex ring with generic-body configurations. The experiments used a circular 30mm internal diameter and 38mm outer diameter shock-tube. The driver and driven gas was air. A vortex ring was generated by the impulse of the shock wave emerging from the open end of the shock-tube. High-speed schlieren photography was employed. Both side view and 45˚ oblique photographs were taken. The interactions with generic shape objects, which were a circular cone, a sphere, a cube and a plane-wall, were studied. Three different driver pressures of 12, 8, and 4 bars were tested with driven gas at 1 bar; the shock wave Mach number inside the tube was 1.63, 1.52 and 1.25 respectively.