This paper describes the development and characterization of modular, oxy-
acetylene driven laboratory scale
shock tubes. Such tools are needed to produce realistic blast waves in a laboratory setting. The pressure-time profiles measured at 1 MHz using high-speed piezoelectric pressure sensors have relevant durations and show a true
shock front and exponential decay characteristic of free-field blast waves. Descriptions are included for
shock tube diameters of 27-79 mm. A range of peak pressures from 204 kPa to 1187 kPa (with 0.5-5.6% standard error of the mean) were produced by selection of the driver section diameter and distance from the
shock tube opening. The peak pressures varied predictably with distance from the
shock tube opening while maintaining both a true blast wave profile and relevant pulse duration for distances up to about one diameter from the
shock tube opening. This
shock tube design provides a more realistic blast profile than current compression-driven
shock tubes, and it does not have a large jet effect. In addition, operation does not require specialized personnel or facilities like most blast-driven
shock tubes, which reduces operating costs and effort and permits greater throughput and accessibility. It is expected to be useful in assessing the response of various sensors to
shock wave loading; assessing the reflection, transmission, and absorption properties of candidate armor materials; assessing material properties at high rates of loading; assessing the response of
biological materials to
shock wave exposure; and providing a means to validate numerical models of the interaction of
shock waves with structures. All of these activities have been difficult to pursue in a laboratory setting due in part to lack of appropriate means to produce a realistic blast loading profile.