Why Do Fighter Jets Get ‘Shock Diamonds’? |
Why Do Fighter Jets Get ‘Shock Diamonds’?
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The interesting aerial phenomena do not substantially impact the fighter jet’s flight—but pilots must be careful with their use due to their distinctive visual appearance and heat signature.
If you’ve ever seen a fighter jet taking off with afterburners, you may have noticed visible “diamonds,” or bright shock cells, in the exhaust. Most visible at night, or in high thrust settings, shock diamonds are a gorgeous result of fluid dynamics and pressure mismatch.
Also called “mach diamonds” and “shock cells,” and formally referred to as “exhaust shock patterns,” shock diamonds appear as alternating bright and dark bands in an exhaust plume. Caused by supersonic exhaust interacting with ambient air, shock diamonds exist where repeating compression and expansion waves exist.
How Do Aircraft Afterburners Work?
Shock diamonds are common in afterburner settings.........