Coalescence and Interaction of Blast Waves Using Multiple Munitions

Abstract

The focusing of shock waves is a phenomenon known to generate extreme conditions in the focal region of the converging shock. In nature, the curved shock fronts that appear in a variety of circumstances can lead to focusing effects during propagation. In the ocean, the collapse of cavitation bubbles is one of the most prevalent ways for shock focusing to occur. For large swimmers at shallow depth, the maximum speed of the swimmers is limited by the physical pain caused by cavitation collapse near the caudal fin [1]. On the other hand, in human society, many fields such as industrial and civil engineering, chemical, nuclear, biomedical, and aerospace industry can benefit from shock focusing. One of the most common applications is extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL). It is a minimally invasive therapy to pulverize kidney stones into smaller fragments. During the procedure, shock waves are generated and focused to the localized area in a patient’s body, a process that will lead to stone fragmentation. Thus, studying the physics behind the mechanisms of shock focusing can not only help us to understand the nature better but also improve many applications valuable to human life.