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Shock waves generated in a shock tube by use of hydrogen or helium as a driver gas and air, nitrogen, oxygen or argon as a driven gas have higher velocities than predicted by simple theory when sufficiently large diaphragm pressure ratios are used. Expected shock-tube performance curves have been constructed using the equilibrium Hugoniot for the driven gas, both for the usual model of shock tube flow, which assumes instantaneous diaphragm removal, and for a suggested model based on a finite rupture time for the diaphragm. Agreement between experiment and the latter model is in general good, and the differences are qualitatively accounted for by the pressure waves expected to result from mixing between driver and driven gases at the contact surface. These waves may be either compression or expansion waves, depending on the relative heat capacities of the two gases. The maximum shock strength observed as a shock goes down the tube was found to occur at a distance from the diaphragm which increases with the shock strength, and the strongest shocks were found to be still accelerating at the end of a 42 ft. long shock tube of 3 1/2 in. square cross-section. Diaphragm breaking time has been measured and found to be consistent with the observations on the shock formation distance.
Donald R. White (Sat,) studied this question.