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APPLICATION OF SHOCK TUBE

In addition to measurements of rates of chemical kinetics shock tubes have been used to
measure dissociation energies and molecular relaxation rates they have been used in
aerodynamic tests. The fluid flow in the driven gas can be used much as a wind tunnel, allowing
higher temperatures and pressures therein [14] replicating conditions in the turbine sections of jet
engines. However, test times are limited to a few milliseconds, either by the arrival of the contact
surface or the reflected shock wave.
They have been further developed into shock tunnels, with an added nozzle and dump tank. The
resultant high temperature hypersonic flow can be used to simulate atmospheric re-
entry of spacecraft or hypersonic craft, again with limited testing times.
Shock tubes have been developed in a wide range of sizes. The size and method of producing
the shock wave determine the peak and duration of the pressure wave it produces. Thus, shock
tubes can be used as a tool used to both create and direct blast waves at a sensor or an object
in order to imitate actual explosions and the damage that they cause on a smaller scale, provided
that such explosions do not involve elevated temperatures and shrapnel or flying debris. Results
from shock tube experiments can be used to develop and validate numerical model of the
response of a material or object to an ambient blast wave without shrapnel or flying debris.
Shock tubes can be used to experimentally determine which materials and designs would be
best suited to the job of attenuating ambient blast waves without shrapnel or flying debris. The
results can then be incorporated into designs to protect structures and people that might be
exposed to an ambient blast wave without shrapnel or flying debris. Shock tubes are also used in
biomedical research to find out how biological tissues are affected by blast waves.
There are alternatives to the classical shock tube; for laboratory experiments at very high
pressure, shock waves can also be created using high-intensity short-pulse lasers

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