Shock wave damping in air during the explosion of a planar explosive charge in a shock tube

The damping of a shock front and the flow behind it are investigated experimentally for the explosion of a planar condensed explosive in a shock tube in air and in an inert gas. An explosive disk was detonated in the center of a shock tube filled with air or nitrogen and the pressure and shock-wave radiation in the tube were monitored. Results indicate that under the same initial conditions, the shock wave in air is more intense than that in nitrogen, most likely due to energy release accompanying the oxidation of the explosion products in the mixing zone.