An analytical investigation of a compressible turbulent jet exiting a shock tube
- Military Academy, West Point, NY (United States). Dept. of Civil and Mechanical Engineering
The air blast phenomenon, produced by a variety of means including high explosives, shock tubes, and low yield nuclear detonations is characterized by high over pressures and wind forces that can produce heavy damage to structures. The presence of a ground plane close to the air blast can produce what has been termed a thermally percussed non-ideal blast. The non-ideal blast exhibits much higher dynamic pressure (wind) loading that the ideal blast (i.e., no ground plane). Non-ideal blast simulators are necessary for the study of the response of structures and equipment to severe wind loads. Blasts produced by high energy explosives driven into helium layers have been used successfully but require enormous amounts of helium. Large scale tests/simulations are prohibitively expensive and raise serious safety issues. Shock tubes offer a practical and important experimental tool for studying non-ideal blasts. For this effect, the compressible, turbulent jet flow located downstream of the shock tube`s exit plane is the primary focus. Here, an exploratory theoretical investigation of a compressible turbulent jet exiting a shock tube has been performed. Mean velocity and mean enthalpy profiles are calculated for various downstream locations from the shock tube`s exit plane. The variation of velocity and enthalpy along with variation of the jet width along the axis of the axially symmetric jet are also determined. A turbulence model based upon Prandtl`s mixing length theory is incorporated into the investigation permitting a closed form albeit transcendental solution to the conservation of momentum and energy equations.
- OSTI ID:
- 428123
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960706--; ISBN 0-7918-1772-5
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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