Mechanics of the influx phase in the jet regurgitant mode of a powered resonance tube

Time-resolved visualisation of shock wave motion within a powered resonant tube (PRT) is presented for the regurgitant mode of operation. Shock position and velocity are measured as functions of both time and space from ultra-high-speed schlieren visualisations. The shock wave velocity is seen to vary across the resonator length for both the incident and reflected waves. Three mechanisms are explored as explanations for the variation in velocity: change in local fluid velocity, variation in shock strength and variations in local temperature. For the incident wave, local fluid velocity and shock strength are extracted from the data and both are demonstrated to contribute to the observed variation, with a non-trivial remainder likely explained by variation in temperature.