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Updated: Feb 2, 2026

Shock Wave Application to Cell Cultures
Published on: April 8, 2014
Using Schlieren imaging to estimate the geometry of a shock wave radiated by a trumpet bell
Pablo L Rendón1, Roberto Velasco-Segura1, Carlos Echeverría2
1Instituto de Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Mexico City, Mexico.
Abstract:
The Schlieren method has been used before to visualize weak shock waves radiated from the open ends of brass instruments, but no attempt has previously been undertaken, however, to measure the geometry of the radiated wavefronts using the Schlieren images. In this paper Schlieren visualization is used to estimate the geometry of the two-dimensional shock wavefronts radiated from the bell of a trumpet at different frequencies. It is observed that the geometry of the shocks does change with frequency, in the expected manner. The propagation speeds of these shocks are also calculated, and they too exhibit the anticipated behavior.
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