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At least 55 records · Page 3

Blast waves in rotating media.

The model investigated involves a cylindrically symmetric blast wave generated by an infinitely long line explosion in a cold and homogeneous gas rotating rigidly in its self-gravitational field. It is found that within the context of rotation in a gravitational field a blast wave will not adopt the one-zone form familiar from similarity solutions but, rather, a two-zone form. The inner compression zone arises as a response to the presence of the restoring force, which drives a rarefaction wave into the outer compression zone.

Rossner, L. F.

Curved characteristics behind blast waves.

The behavior of nonisentropic flow behind a propagating blast wave is theoretically studied. Exact solutions, expressed in closed form in terms of elementary functions, are presented for three sets of curved characteristicseind a self-similar, strong blast wave.

Laporte, O.

A parametric study of self-similar blast waves.

Comprehensive examination of self-similar blast waves with respect to two parameters, one describing the front velocity and the other the variation of the ambient density immediately ahead of the front. All possible front trajectories are taken into account, including limiting cases of the exponential and logarithmic form. The structure of the waves is analyzed by means of a phase plane defined in terms of two reduced coordinates. Loci of extrema of the integral curves in the phase plane are traced, and loci of singularities are determined on the basis of their intersections. Boundary conditons are introduced for the case where the medium into which the waves propagate is at rest. Representative solutions, pertaining to all the possible cases of blast waves bounded by shock fronts propagating into an atmosphere of uniform density, are obtained by evaluating the integral curves and determining the corresponding profiles of the gasdynamic parameters. Particular examples of integral curves for waves bounded by detonations are given, and all the degenerate solutions corresponding to cases where the integral curve is reduced to a point are delineated.

Oppenheim, A. K.

On self-similar blast waves headed by the Chapman-Jouguet detonation.

Consideration of the whole class of self-similar solutions for blast waves bounded by Chapman-Jouguet detonations that propagate into a uniform, quiescent, zero counterpressure atmosphere of a perfect gas with constant specific heats. Since such conditions can be approached quite closely by some actual chemical systems at NTP, this raises the interesting possibility of the existence of Chapman-Jouguet detonations of variable velocity. The principal virtue of the results presented is, however, more of theoretical significance. They represent the limiting case for all the self-similar blast waves headed by gasdynamic discontinuities associated with a deposition of finite amounts of energy, and they exhibit some unique features owing to the singular nature of the Chapman-Jouguet condition.

Oppenheim, A. K.

Protection against explosive blasts

Simple, hinged cover plate is effective against high explosive blasts. Blast energy under cover is transformed into kinetic energy of plate.

Bement, L. J.

Evacuation of coal from hoppers/silos with low pressure pneumatic blasting systems

The need for an efficient, economical, effective and quiet device for moving coal and other difficult bulk solids was recognized. Thus came the advent of the low pressure pneumatic blasting system - a very efficient means of using a small amount of plant air (up to 125 PSI) to eliminate the most troublesome material hang-ups in storage containers. This simple device has one moving part and uses approximately 3% of the air consumed by a pneumatic vibrator on the same job. The principle of operation is very simple: air stored in the unit's reservoir is expelled directly into the material via a patented quick release valve. The number, size, and placement of the blaster units on the storage vessel is determined by a series of tests to ascertain flowability of the problem material. These tests in conjunction with the hopper or silo configuration determine specification of a low pressure pneumatic blasting system. This concept has often proven effective in solving flow problems when all other means have failed.

Fischer, J. S.

Concerning isothermal self-similar blast waves. I - One-dimensional flow and its stability. II - Two-dimensional flow and its stability

One-dimensional self-similar isothermal flow behind a blast wave propagating in a medium whose density varies with distance is investigated for the cases of one-dimensional and two-dimensional flow. The isothermal flow model is adopted as an alternative to adiabatic models of self-similar flow, which neglect heat flux. The topology of the one-dimensional flow solutions, the singularities, and the influence of boundary conditions are discussed; the instability of the isothermal blast waves against nonself-similar perturbations is also considered. The number of critical points in the two-dimensional solutions is found to vary from the number in the one-dimensional problem.

Lerche, I.

Atomizing characteristics of swirl can combustor modules with swirl blast fuel injectors

Cold flow atomization tests of several different designs of swirl can combustor modules were conducted in a 7.6 cm diameter duct at airflow rates (per unit area) of 7.3 to 25.7 g/sq cm sec and water flow rates of 6.3 to 18.9 g/sec. The effect of air and water flow rates on the mean drop size of water sprays produced with the swirl blast fuel injectors were determined. Also, from these data it was possible to determine the effect of design modifications on the atomizing performance of various fuel injector and air swirler configurations. The trend in atomizing performance, as based on the mean drop size, was then compared with the trends in the production of nitrogen oxides obtained in combustion studues with the same swirl can combustors. It was found that the fuel injector design that gave the best combustor performance in terms of a low NOx emission index also gave the best atomizing performance as characterized by a spray of relatively small mean drop diameter. It was also demonstrated that at constant inlet air stream momentum the nitrogen oxides emission index was found to vary inversely with the square of the mean drop diameter of the spray produced by the different swirl blast fuel injectors. Test conditions were inlet air static pressures of 100,000 to 200,000 N/sq m at an inlet air temperature of 293 K.

Ingebo, R. D.

Preliminary Data on Rain Deflection from Aircraft Windshields by Means of High-Velocity Jet-Air Blast

A preliminary experimental investigation is being conducted to determine the feasibility of preventing rain from impinging on aircraft windshields by means of high-velocity jet-air blast. The results indicate that rain deflection by jet blast appears feasible for flight speeds comparable with landing and take-off speeds of interceptor-type jet aircraft; however, attainment of good visibility through the mist generated by raindrop breakup presents a problem. For the simulated windshield and the lower windshield angles used in the investigation, air-flow rates of the order of 3.3 pounds per minute of unheated air per inch of windshield span were required for adequate rain deflection at a free-stream velocity of 135 miles per hour. A method has been devised whereby it is possible to produce large-diameter water drops (1000 to 1500 p.) in a moving air stream, without breakup, at speeds in excess of 175 miles per hour.

Ruggeri, Robert S.

Mathematical theory of cylindrical isothermal blast waves in a magnetic field

An analysis is conducted regarding the properties of cylindrically symmetric self-similar blast waves propagating away from a line source into a medium whose density and magnetic field (with components in both the phi and z directions) both vary as r to the -(omega) power (with omega less than 1) ahead of the blast wave. The main results of the analysis can be divided into two classes, related to a zero azimuthal field and a zero longitudinal field. In the case of the zero longitudinal field it is found that there are no physically acceptable solutions with continuous postshock variations of flow speed and gas density.

Lerche, I.

Effects of internal heat transfer on the structure of self-similar blast waves

An analysis of the problem of self-similar, nonadiabatic blast waves, where both conduction and radiation are allowed to take place, show the problem to be reducible to the integration of a system of six coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations. Consideration of these equations shows that although radiation tends to produce uniform fields through temperature gradient attenuation, all the energy carried by radiation is deposited on the front and the bounding shock becomes increasingly overdriven. When conduction is taken into account, the distribution of gasdynamic parameters in blast waves in the case of Rosseland diffusion radiation is more uniform than in the case of the Planck emission radiation.

Ghoniem, A. F.

Robotic Water Blast Cleaner

Water blasting system under development removes hard, dense, extraneous material from surfaces. High pressure pump forces water at supersonic speed through nozzle manipulated by robot. Impact of water blasts away unwanted material from workpiece rotated on air bearing turntable. Designed for removing thermal-protection material, system is adaptable to such industrial processes as cleaning iron or steel castings.

Sharpe, M. H.

Localized coating removal using plastic media blasting

Steps taken to qualify the use of plastic media blasting for safely and effectively removing paint and other coatings from solid rocket booster aluminum structures are described. As a result of the effort, an improvement was made in the design of surface finishing equipment for processing flight hardware, in addition to a potentially patentable idea on improved plastic media composition. The general arrangement of the blast equipment and the nozzle configuration are presented.

Novak, Howard L.

Detecting Residues On Grit-Blasted Surfaces

Addition of fluorescent or iridescent material to plastic grit particles proposed for detection of grit residues after grit-blast cleaning. Residual films visible by observing grit-blasted surfaces under infrared or ultraviolet light. Plastic grit contains fluorescent or iridescent additive in core and coating. Wherever grit material becomes embedded, additive makes it visible under infrared or ultraviolet light. Applicable to other grit materials, for example fluorescent or iridescent materials added to particles of glass, silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, or zirconium silicate.

Novak, H. L.

Computation of viscous blast wave flowfields

A method to determine unsteady solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations was developed and applied. The structural finite-volume, approximately factored implicit scheme uses Newton subiterations to obtain the spatially and temporally second-order accurate time history of the interaction of blast-waves with stationary targets. The inviscid flux is evaluated using MacCormack's modified Steger-Warming flux or Roe flux difference splittings with total variation diminishing limiters, while the viscous flux is computed using central differences. The use of implicit boundary conditions in conjunction with a telescoping in time and space method permitted solutions to this strongly unsteady class of problems. Comparisons of numerical, analytical, and experimental results were made in two and three dimensions. These comparisons revealed accurate wave speed resolution with nonoscillatory discontinuity capturing. The purpose of this effort was to address the three-dimensional, viscous blast-wave problem. Test cases were undertaken to reveal these methods' weaknesses in three regimes: (1) viscous-dominated flow; (2) complex unsteady flow; and (3) three-dimensional flow. Comparisons of these computations to analytic and experimental results provided initial validation of the resultant code. Addition details on the numerical method and on the validation can be found in the appendix. Presently, the code is capable of single zone computations with selection of any permutation of solid wall or flow-through boundaries.

Atwood, Christopher A.

Space shuttle holddown post blast shield

The original and subsequent designs of the Solid Rocket Booster/Holddown Post blast shield assemblies and their associated hardware are described. It presents the major problems encountered during their early use in the Space Shuttle Program, during the Return-to-Flight Modification Phase, and during their fabrication and validation testing phases. The actions taken to correct the problems are discussed, along with the various concepts now being considered to increase the useful life of the blast shield.

Larracas, F. B.

Nonlinear growth of dynamical overstabilities in blast waves

The numerical gasdynamics code ZEUS-2D is used to directly model the dynamical overstabilities in blast waves. The linear analysis is confirmed by perturbing a blast wave with a low-amplitude eigenfunction of the overstability. The amplitude of the perturbations is increased in order to determine the nonlinear behavior of the overstabilities. The overstability is found to saturate due to weak transverse shocks in the shell. Transverse velocities in the dense shell reach the postshock sound speed, and high-density regions with sizes of the order of the shell thickness form. Transverse oscillations continue even after saturation. This confirms and explains the damping of the overstability experimentally discovered by Grun et al. (1991).

Mac Low, Mordecai-Mark

Effects of an Early-Time Impact Generated Vapor Blast in the Martian Atmosphere: Formation of High-Latitude Pedestal Craters

Following impact, vapor expansion creates an intense airblast that interacts with the ambient atmosphere. The resulting hemi-spherical shock wave leaves a signature on the surface that is dependent on initial atmospheric and surface conditions. Here we propose that the formation of pedestal craters (craters surrounded by an erosion-resistant pedestal) may be a direct consequence of extreme winds and elevated temperatures generated by such an impact-induced atmospheric blast. Pedestal craters, first recognized in Mariner 9 data, are a unique feature on Mars and likely a signature of near-surface volatiles. They are found at high latitudes (small pedestals, Amazonian to Late Hesperian in age) and in thick equatorial mantling deposits (larger pedestals, early Hesperian to Noachian in age). Previously suggested mechanisms for pedestal crater formation (e.g., wind: ejecta curtain vortices or vapor blast; and ejecta dust: armoring) do not provide a complete picture. The clear evidence for near-surface volatiles at high latitudes requires a re-evaluation of these alternative models. The results presented here suggest that a combined atmospheric blast/thermal model provides a plausible formation hypothesis.

Wrobel, K. E.