Shock wave driven by a phased implosion

In this paper the theory of an axially phased radial implosion of a channel is developed. When the phase velocity of the implosion exceeds the sound velocity inside the channel, a planar shock wave traveling along the channel axis can develop. For the energy of the implosion system in the appropriate range, the theory predicts a stable steady-state flow configuration. The effect of the phased implosion is for the channel wall to form a nozzle that travels along the channel axis. The flow behind the axial shock is well described by the equations for nozzle flow with an additional dynamical degree of freedom for the shape of the wall. Experiments presented here verify the theoretical predictions. The numerical simulations show the formation of the axial shock during start-up and the approach to steady state to be in good agreement with experiment and theory. A potential application of the axially phased implosion is the design of a super shock tube.