PRODUCTION OF A HIGH-TEMPERATURE STAGNANT GAS REGION BY COLLIDING SHOCK WAVES.

With a new shock tube design the primary shock wave is split into two shock waves of equal strengths, which make a head-on collision in the test section, producing a high-temperature stagnant gas region. Preliminary measurements with this apparatus showed that the loss in the shock strengths in the curved passages was not too serious; that the colliding shock waves had well-developed plane shapes, indicating the uniformity of state over the cross section; and that the duration of the uniform state in the collision plane was sufficient for ordinary reaction studies.