Character of Waves Produced by Explosions

In view of the widespread interest in explosions and their effects, a non-mathematical discussion is offered attempting to explain in a qualitative way some of the characteristics of waves resulting from explosions. No new data are offered, but several references are given. A number of peculiarities of high-pressure waves may be deduced from the simple and well-known fact that the higher the compression, the greater is the velocity of propagation, plus the theorem developed by Rayleigh and others, that close to a source which is small compared to wave length, the air constitutes an inertia load rather than a pure resistance.

Print ISSN

0097-5834

Published

1944-01

Content type

Original Research

DOI

10.5594/J08462