Translational nonequilibrium of the shock wave front in an argon-helium gas mixture

It is experimentally established that the concentration of metastable atoms appearing in the front of a shock wave propagating in a gas phase is great er by one order of magnitude for an argon-helium 1:1 mixture than for pure argon with the same Mach number and initial pressure. The average "longitud inal" temperature of the shock wave front is determined. An expression for the concentration of excited particles is derived that takes into account t he "longitudinal" character of the gas temperature in the shock wave front. (C) 2000 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".