Shock Tube Performance Studies with Argon and Carbon Dioxide Using Unsteady Numerical Simulation

The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of the shock tube with argon and carbon dioxide as working fluid using unsteady numerical simulations. A two-dimensional axisymmetric model of a shock tube is taken for the study. Simulations were carried out for different diaphragm ratios to study the dependency on temperature behind the incident shock wave, shock Mach number and temperature behind the reflected shock wave. Time-dependent flow is necessary to understand the properties of gas behind the shock. Effects of viscosity are neglected to reduce the computation times for highly non-uniform processes. For an inviscid flow, Navier–Stokes equation is reduced to the Euler equation. Adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) technique was used to correctly resolve and capture shock waves and contact surface. Different gas combinations of argon and carbon dioxide were taken in driver/driven regions for the simulation. The different driver/driven gas model shows an advantage in shock Mach number of 4.7% at lower diaphragm pressure ratios and significant changes in temperature of shocked gas and temperature behind reflected shocks wave are also.