An investigation of free piston compression of shock tube driver gas

An anal ysis i s made of the performa nce to be expected from a shock tube in which the driver gas is heated by isentropic compression with a free piston. It is found that high shock Mach numbers can be produced, and this is borne out by experiments . Consideration is also given to the use of this technique ta heat driver gas for use in "tailored interface " operation of a shock tunnel, and it is found that the driver gas pressure can be maintained suitably constant for periods of time expected to be of practical use .