Experiments in Gasdynamics of Explosions

pbetween energy transfer occurring at a high rate in a compressible medium and the concomitant motion set up in this medium. This subject has attracted a considerable amount of attention over the last decade for a number of reasons. First, there was a growing realization that this interrela­ tionship is at the source of the explosion process and, in particular, that it governs the structure of detonation waves. At the same time it became evident that this topic also plays the key role in the whole field of hypersonics. This interest was then enhanced by the bearing our subject has on the mutual influence between exothermic chemical reactions and the dynamic behavior of combustion systems, by the work associated with the development of the gasdynamic laser, and by the exciting prospects the exploitation of laser technology offers in the eventual attainment of a controlled thermonuclear reaction. As a consequence of this, there have been a number of books published on various aspects of the subject, especially in the Soviet Union (e.g., Shchelkin & Troshin 1963, Voitsekhovsky et al 1963, Soloukhin 1963, Zel'dovich & Raizer 1963-1966), and a number of international colloquia, devoted especially to its major topics, organized under the auspices of the International Academy of Astronautics (Oppenheim 1969, 1970, 1972a). Over the last year there were pub­ lished two review papers (Korobeinikov 1971, Brode, Glass & Oppenheim 1971) and a monograph (Oppenheim 1972b) concerned exclusively with the fundamen­ tal features of the subject. These reviews dealt with the theoretical and the techno­ logical aspects, respectively. The present article is intended to supplement them with information on laboratory experiments. The subject matter of gasdynamics of explosions evolved from investigations of detonation phenomena, shock-wave research, and blast-wave studies. Our review considers these three topics in turn, the latter two with particular reference, of coUrse, to chemically reacting media. It should be noted that most of the