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ShockDiamondsandMach
Disks
Aseriesofdisksorringscanoftenbeseenintheexhaustplumeofrocketengineora
jetengine,especiallywhentheafterburnerison.Whatcausesthesepatterns?
questionfromStephanKirschner,Mitja,WaynePerry,LukeDixon,SophieTallon,
HenryPertinez&Ron
Thepatternofevenlyspacedringssometimesvisibleintheexhaustofanengineistypically
referredtoasshockdiamondsorMachdisks.Thephenomenonoccursanytimeaflowexits
anozzleatsupersonicspeedsandatapressurethatisdifferentthanthatoftheexternal
atmosphere.Mostofusareprobablyusedtoseeingshockdiamondsoccurnearsealevel
duringthetakeoffofanaircraft,likeinthebelowphotooftheSR71Blackbird.

ShockdiamondsinthejetengineexhaustoftheSR71Blackbirdduringtakeoff

Inthiscase,theexitpressureoftheexhaustplumeislowerthantheatmosphericpressure.
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Asexplainedinapreviousarticleaboutnozzlesandpressure,thissituationisreferredtoas
overexpansion.Overexpansionisacommonoccurrenceatlowaltitudeswherethe
atmosphericpressureishigh.Thisbehaviorisalsooftenseenduringtheliftoffofrockets,
liketheSpaceShuttle.

ShockdiamondpatternsfromthethreeSpaceShuttleMainEngines

Whenaflowisoverexpanded,thelowergaspressurewithintheexhaustcomparedtothatof
theexternalatmospherecausestheexhausttobecompressedorsqueezedinward.This
compressionincreasesthepressureoftheexhaust.However,theflowmaybecompressed
toomuchsothatitspressureexceedstheatmosphericpressure.Asaresult,theflownow
expandsbackoutwardtoreducethepressureagain.Thisprocessmayalsoexpandtoofar
causingtheinternalpressuretoagaindroplowerthanambient.Regardless,thedifference
betweentheinternalandexternalpressuresreduceseachtimetheflowpassesthroughone
ofthesecompressionandexpansionprocesses.Overtime,theprocessofcompressionand
expansionrepeatsitselfuntiltheexhaustpressurebecomesthesameastheambient
atmosphericpressure.Inotherwords,theflowwillrepeatedlycontractandexpandwhile
graduallyequalizingthepressuredifferencebetweentheexhaustandtheatmosphere.
Themethodbywhichtheflowaccomplishesthesecompressionsandexpansionsisthrough
differentkindsofwavesthatformthebasisofsupersonicfluiddynamics.Amongthesetypes
ofwavesareobliqueandnormalshockwaves,PrandtlMeyerexpansionwaves,and
PrandtlMeyercompressionwaves.Tobetterunderstandthesewavesandhowtheyform,
letustakeacloserlookattheshockdiamondformationprocessasitoccursinthe
overexpandedflowshownbelow.

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Wavestructuresthatcreateshockdiamondsinanoverexpandedflow

Whileexitingthenozzle,theflownearthecenterlinewillbemovingparalleltothat
centerline.However,thepressureoftheambientatmospherebeyondthefreejetboundary
ishigherthanthatoftheexhaust.Thishigherpressureforcestheexhausttoturninward
towardsthecenterline.Thisturningismadepossiblethroughatypeofwavecalledan
obliqueshockwave.Anyshockwavecausesachangeinthepressureofaflow,anincrease
inthiscase.Anobliqueshockwaveisnamedforthefactthatitisinclinedatanangletothe
directionoftheflowpassingthroughit.
Ontheotherhand,ashockwavethatisperpendiculartothedirectionoftheflowiscalleda
normalshockwave.Anormalshockcanbeseenintheabovediagramwhentheflowagain
turnsparalleltothecenterline.ThisnormalshockcreatesaMachdiskintheexhaustflow.
Passingthroughthisnormalshockwavecausesthetemperatureoftheflowtoincrease,
ignitinganyexcessfuelpresentintheexhaustmakingitburn.Itisthisburningfuelthat
makestheMachdiskglowandbecomevisibletocreatetheringpattern.
Liketheobliqueshock,thisnormalshockwavealsoincreasesthepressureoftheexhaust
gases.However,theflowbecomessocompressedthatthepressureisnowgreaterthan
thatoftheambientatmosphere.Asaresult,theflowbeginstoturnoutwardandtheexhaust
expandsasittriestoequalizewiththeexternalair.Thisturningoftheflowisaccomplished
throughaseriesofexpansionwavesthatreflectoffthefreejetboundaryandtowardsthe
centerline.Thesewavescausetheflowtoturnoutwardandreduceinpressure.The
expansionwavesthenencountertheir"twins"fromtheoppositesideofthenozzleatthe
centerlineandreflectbackoutwardtowardsthefreejetboundary,alsocalledthecontact
discontinuity.Astheflowpassesthroughthesereflectedexpansionwaves,itisturned
paralleltothecenterlineandagainreducesinpressure.Thesetwosetsofexpansionwaves
arecollectivelyreferredtoasanexpansionfan.
Theexpansionfandecreasesthepressureoftheexhaust,butitisnowlowerthanthe
ambientpressureagain.Astheexpansionwavesreachthecontactdiscontinuity,theyagain
reflectbackinwardtocreatecompressionwavesandacompressionfan.These
compressionwavesforcetheflowtoturnbackinwardandincreaseinpressure.Ifthe
compressionwavesarestrongenough,theywillmergeintoanobliqueshockwaveandform
anewMachdisksimilartothatnearthenozzleexit.Thisseriesofcompressionandshock
wavesincreasethepressureabovetheexternalaircausinganewexpansionfantoform,
andsoon.ThisprocessrepeatsitselfagainandagaintocreatetheseriesofMachdisks
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thatwerecognizeasshockdiamondsintheexhaustofajetorrocketengine.

Wavestructuresthatcreateshockdiamondsinanunderexpandedflow

Asimilarprocessoccursinanunderexpandedflowexitingfromanozzleathighaltitude,like
thatpicturedabove.Thesequenceofcompressionandexpansionisidenticaltothat
describedforanoverexpandednozzleexceptthatitbeginswiththecreationofanexpansion
fanratherthanobliqueshockwaves.Thisbehaviorcausestheflowtobillowoutwardinitially
ratherthancompressinward.Regardless,thesubsequentseriesofexpansionsand
compressionsresultsinthesameformationofshockdiamondpatternsdownstream.

Shockdiamondstructurevisibleinanitrogenplasmajet

Inanidealgas,thisprocessofexpansionandcontractionwouldcontinueonforevercreating
aninfinitenumberofMachdisks.Realgasesarenotideal,however,andfrictioncreated
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alongthefreejetboundarybetweentheairandexhaustresultsinaturbulentshearlayer.
Thislayercreatesaviscousdampingthatgraduallydissipatesthewavestructure.This
viscousfrictioneventuallyequalizesthepressuredifferencesbetweentheexhaustand
ambientatmospheresothattheshockdiamondscannolongerbeformed.

ShockdiamondsintherocketengineexhaustoftheX1

Machdiskscanappearinanysupersonicexhaust,whetheritisfromaliquidrocketengine,
solidrocketmotor,orjetengine.Theseshockdiamondpatternscanformintheexhaust
fromanaircraft,aspacelaunchvehicle,oramilitarymissile.Perhapsthemostfamous
photoevertakenofshockdiamondswastheabovepictureofChuckYeager'sX1rocket
planejustmomentsafterhefirstreachedMach1.
answerbyJeffScott,17April2005

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