Preface to the Second Edition
Date: January 2021
This second edition incorporates a number of changes with the inclusion of new
material in each of the chapters, while a substantial quantity of additional material
has been included in Chap. 4. A section dealing with typical sound wave parameters
is provided in Chap. 1 and new sections dealing with weak shock waves and the
thickness of the shock wave region have been included in Chap. 3. Additional
material on amplitude effects in wave propagation, short duration impulsive piston
motion and shock decay, as well as some numerical results for shock wave interactions have been included in Chap. 4. The section in Chap. 5 dealing with Taylor’s
estimation of the yield of the first atomic explosion has been extended and a small
amount of additional material has been included in Chap. 6. Two appendices have
been added; the first deals with the piston withdrawal problem with more emphasis
on numerical calculations and computations, and the second deals with the results of
some numerical calculations for the variation in pressure, particle velocity and
density for the shock tube over an extended time interval. Since the first edition of
the text appeared, I have corrected several errors that I discovered, and I trust that I
have identified all errors and that no new ones have crept in with the addition of the
new material. The provision of this new material as outlined above is anticipated to
enhance students’ understanding of shock wave propagation and to increase student
interest in the subject area. I am most grateful to Dr. Sam Harrison, editor at Springer
(Physics), and his production team for all their help in getting this new edition of the
book published.
Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
Seán Prunty
v
Date: January 2021
This second edition incorporates a number of changes with the inclusion of new
material in each of the chapters, while a substantial quantity of additional material
has been included in Chap. 4. A section dealing with typical sound wave parameters
is provided in Chap. 1 and new sections dealing with weak shock waves and the
thickness of the shock wave region have been included in Chap. 3. Additional
material on amplitude effects in wave propagation, short duration impulsive piston
motion and shock decay, as well as some numerical results for shock wave interactions have been included in Chap. 4. The section in Chap. 5 dealing with Taylor’s
estimation of the yield of the first atomic explosion has been extended and a small
amount of additional material has been included in Chap. 6. Two appendices have
been added; the first deals with the piston withdrawal problem with more emphasis
on numerical calculations and computations, and the second deals with the results of
some numerical calculations for the variation in pressure, particle velocity and
density for the shock tube over an extended time interval. Since the first edition of
the text appeared, I have corrected several errors that I discovered, and I trust that I
have identified all errors and that no new ones have crept in with the addition of the
new material. The provision of this new material as outlined above is anticipated to
enhance students’ understanding of shock wave propagation and to increase student
interest in the subject area. I am most grateful to Dr. Sam Harrison, editor at Springer
(Physics), and his production team for all their help in getting this new edition of the
book published.
Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
Seán Prunty
v