Shock Relaxation in a Lightly Mass-Loaded Gas

Abstract

For very low mass loading, the hydrodynamics of the gas can be regarded as completely uncoupled from effects of the particulate phase. Consequently, a simple analytic expression can be derived for the variation of dust density with time after the passage of a shock through such a gas–dust medium. Experimental confirmation, through the use of an electrostatic suspension system and a simple light attenuation technique, is sensitive enough to detect relaxation times of the order 10−5 s.