In the gas equations, different density profiles correspond to different temperature distributions across the tube. A shock tube was therefore investigated with low density gas along the tube axis and high density gas along the walls. This modeled the experimentally interesting case of high temperature gas along the tube axis and low temperature gas along the tube walls. This agrees well with the experimental observations. Furthermore, the steady state arising immediately behind the shock was studied to obtain the corrected momentum balance equations, which account for the vorticity generated when inhomogeneities are encountered by a shock wave.
Density contours in the shock tube at different times.
The shock is moving to the right. Vorticity contours after a very long time of shock propagation into a V-shaped density profile. The shock is moving upward. All rights reserved.