Abstract
In order to study the stability of converging cylindrical shock waves an annular vertical diaphragmless shock tube was designed and constructed. This shock tube has a self-sustained structure and produces cylindrical shock waves with a wide range of shock Mach numbers and a higher degree of repeatability. Double exposure holographic interferometry method was used for quantitative flow visualization. It is found that the cylindrical shock waves converge more uniformly in this vertical strut-free shock tube than in a former horizontal annular shock tube and behavior of the converging cylindrical shock waves is clarified.
