The effects of area contraction on the performance of UNITEN's shock tube: Numerical study

• Main Authors: Mohsen A.M., Yusoff M.Z., Al-Falahi A.
• Other Authors: 58507495000
• Format: Conference paper
• Published: Institute of Physics Publishing 2023
• Subjects: Computational fluid dynamics; Shock tubes; Diaphragm pressure; Different operating conditions; Navier Stokes; Numerical results; Pressure ratio; Time-accurate; Transient flow; Wave strengths; computational fluid dynamics; conference proceeding; diaphragm wall; Navier-Stokes equations; numerical model; performance assessment; rupture; shock wave; wave velocity; Diaphragms
• Institution: Universiti Tenaga Nasional

Numerical study into the effects of area contraction on shock tube performance has been reported in this paper. The shock tube is an important component of high speed fluid flow test facility was designed and built at the Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN). In the above mentioned facility, a small area contraction, in form of a bush, was placed adjacent to the diaphragm section to facilitate the diaphragm rupturing process when the pressure ratio across the diaphragm increases to a certain value. To investigate the effects of the small area contraction on facility performance, numerical simulations were conducted at different operating conditions (diaphragm pressure ratios P4/P1 of 10, 15, and 20). A two-dimensional time-accurate Navier-Stokes CFD solver was used to simulate the transient flow in the facility with and without area contraction. The numerical results show that the facility performance is influenced by area contraction in the diaphragm section. For instance, when operating the facility with area contraction using diaphragm pressure ratio (P4/P1) of 10, the shock wave strength and shock wave speed decrease by 18% and 8% respectively. � Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.