Initial Wave Structure in a Blast Tube

In this paper we study the wave structure by an instantaneous release of energy from which a blast wave is formed. The aim is to describe and understand the wave structures in one dimension after a near-instantaneous energy release. Numerical simulations were carried out with the OpenFOAM rhoCentralFoam solver using the Kurganov, Noelle and Petrova scheme. Mesh and CFL sensitivity analyses were performed, where the need for very low CFL values is observed to avoid the presence of spurious oscillations. Different pressure, velocity, temperature and density profiles are studied and described for different times after energy release. It was also observed that there are no differences in using the first order upwind scheme or the TVD Minmod limiter. Finally, the wave structures are compared if the classical shock tube or a blast tube is used, varying the boundary conditions of the simulations.