Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T02:35:41.068Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Blast wave propagation in an inhomogeneous atmosphere

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2006

P. L. Sachdev
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Toronto

Abstract

The Brinkley–Kirkwood theory (1947) is modified to determine the law of propagation of a blast wave in an arbitrary inhomogeneous medium for spherically and cylindrically symmetric cases. The shock path is obtained in terms of a simple quadrature. The numerical results for the shock path and the entire flow region behind the shock, propagating in an exponential atmosphere, show excellent agreement with the exact numerical solution.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1971 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brinkley, S. R. & Kirkwood, J. G. 1947 Theory of propagation of shock waves. Phys. Rev. 71, 606611.Google Scholar
Chernyi, G. G. 1959 Introduction to Hypersonic Flow (trans. and ed. R. F. Probstein). Academic.
Chester, W. 1954 The quasi-cylindrical shock tube. Phil. Mag. 45 (7), 1293-1301.
Chisnell, R. F. 1955 The normal motion of a shock wave through a non-uniform one-dimensional medium. Proc. Roy. Soc. A 232, 35070.Google Scholar
Hayes, W. D. 1968 The propagation upward of the shock wave from a strong explosion in the atmosphere. J. Fluid Mech. 32, 31731.Google Scholar
Hayes, W. D. & Probstein, R. F. 1966 Hypersonic Flow Theory, vol. I, 2nd edn. Academic.
Kaplan, S. A. 1967 The theory of strong shock propagation in an inhomogeneous cosmic medium. Sov. Astr. 11, 302304.Google Scholar
Kogure, T. & Osaki, T. 1962 Propagation of shock waves in inhomogeneous medium. Pub. Astr. Soc. Japan, 14, 254264.Google Scholar
Laumbach, D. D. & Probstein, R. F. 1969 A point explosion in a cold exponential atmosphere. J. Fluid Mech. 35, 5375.Google Scholar
Nadezhin, D. K. & Frank-Kamenetskii, D. A. 1965 The propagation of shock waves in the outer layers of a star. Sov. Astr. 9, 226232.Google Scholar
Sachdev, P. L. 1967 Propagation of radiative shocks in inhomogeneous media. Ph.D. thesis, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
Sachdev, P. L. 1968 Propagation of shocks in stellar envelopes on Brinkley-Kirkwood theory. Ann. d'Astr. 31, 173178.Google Scholar
Sachdev, P. L. 1970 Brinkley-Kirkwood theory and Whitham's rule. Z. angew. Math. Phys. 21, 481484.Google Scholar
Schatzman, E. 1949 The heating of the solar corona and chromosphere. Ann. d'Astr. 12, 203218.Google Scholar
Taylor, G. I. 1950 The formation of a blast wave by a very intense explosion. Proc. Roy. Soc. A 201, 159186.Google Scholar
Troutman, W. W. & Davis, C. W. 1965 Three-dimensional behaviour of shocks in the atmosphere. Air Force Weapons Lab. Rep. AFWL-TR-65-151.Google Scholar
Whitham, G. B. 1958 On the propagation of shock waves through regions of non-uniform area or flow. J. Fluid Mech. 4, 33760.Google Scholar