Blast wave propagation in a long model blast-simulator. Poster Session

The behaviour of shock waves in long shock tubes is well known; however, there is scarcely any information on the behaviour of blast waves in long blast tubes. To obtain some more information, a blast simulator with a cross-section area of 432 cm2 and a length of 20 m has been constructed in the Ernst-Mach-Institut. To produce blast waves the simulator is driven by 7 short pressure generators, filled with compressed air up to 200 bar which generate a blast overpressure of maximal 1.2 bar just downstream of the generators. Pressure-time histories, measured along the blast simulator for an open, 47 % open and a closed simulator exit, will be shown. These experiments shall give some information about attenuation, decay and reflection of blast waves and, in the case of an open or partially open exit, about the interaction with rarefaction waves. The experimental results are useful for estimations of large blast simulators and will be compared with numerial calculations.