Abstract: The pressure wave refrigerator represents a simple arrangement for gas cooling by its decompression and has many applications in chemical processes and energy transformation. The mechanism of the cooling effect of oscillatory tube is the conversion of the pressure energy of gas to heat through the movement of pressure waves, which are moving shock wave and unsteady expansion wave. In the present paper, the regular pattern of incident shock wave attenuation and its influence on the performance of pressure wave refrigerator are investigated by means of a single-tube set up. In the experiments, the expansion ratio is from 2.0 to 6.0, the relative length of the oscillatory tube L/d is from 87 to 737, and the exciting frequency is from 10 Hz to 240 Hz. The experimental results show that the relative strength of incident shock wave is reduced with the increase of relative position in length x/L because the energy of the reflected shock wave is exhausted by the viscosity and friction of the gas inside the tube. The other reason is the result of the gas in the tube pressurized and heated by the shock wave. The shock wave strength is also influenced by transmission and reflection effects resulted from the reflected shock wave. When the tube is relatively short, the relative strength of incident shock wave is less reduced as the tube length decreases, while the strength of the reflected shock wave at the closed end of the tube increases. The maximum refrigeration efficiency η_max of the refrigerator increases with the tube length, but the value of η_max is not affected obviously when the tube length increases to some value. The recommended optimal tube length L/d is 300-435 for the tube in this experiment. It helps to improve the performance of the pressure wave refrigerator under variable work condition when the amplitude of the refrigeration efficiency fluctuation is reduced as the length increases. The relative strength of the incident shock wave attenuation is concerned with the gas Reynolds number and Mach number in the front of the incident shock wave and the ratio of length to diameter. The attenuation formula is obtained by the dimensional analysis and experimental data, and the results are in good agreement with the experimental data. The maximum error is 5.70%.

Key words: pressure wave refrigerator, shock wave attenuation, oscillatory tube, refrigeration efficiency, flow, gas, heat transfer

摘要： 在膨胀比ε 2～6、振荡管长径比L/d 87～737、射流激励频率f 10～240 Hz范围内，探讨了振荡管内入射激波衰减规律及其对压力波制冷机内流动及性能的影响。结果表明：入射激波相对强度Δp_x/Δp₀随着管长相对位置x/L增大而不断减小，入射激波衰减与管内气体黏性力和摩擦力作用、激波对管内气体增压增温作用以及与反射激波发生透射和反射作用有关；振荡管越短，管内入射激波相对强度降低越少，封闭端所产生的反射激波也越强，制冷机的最大制冷效率η_max会逐渐降低；增大管长会降低压力波制冷机的制冷效率波动幅度，有利于改善压力波制冷机变工况性能。基于量纲分析和实验数据得到了入射激波相对强度衰减公式，计算结果与实验数据吻合较好，最大误差为5.70%。

关键词: 压力波制冷机, 激波衰减, 振荡管, 制冷效率, 流动, 气体, 传热