Propagation of medium strength shock waves through the atmosphere

Abstract

The rise times and overpressures for shock waves from supersonic projectiles have been measured under a variety of atmospheric conditions. These measurements extend the overpressure for which weak shock theory adequately predicts measured values to 3 kPa. Predicted shock rise times agree reasonably well with theory for shock overpressures between 0.04 and 0.5 kPa with differences increasing at higher overpressures. At overpressures greater than 0.5 kPa, measured rise times might be limited by the experimental apparatus. No correlation between measured rise times and atmospheric turbulence was observed.