AWARDEE OF MATHEMATICS AND MECHANICS PRIZE

YU HONGRU

Yu Hongru, a gas dynamics expert. Born on June 15, 1928 in Guangfeng Jiangxi Province. Studied mathematics at Tongji University during 1946-1949. Graduated from the department of mechanical engineering, Dalian Institute of Technology in 1953 and finished postgraduate study in high speed aerodynamics from the Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1963. Research professor of the Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was the deputy　director of the Institute of Mechanics, from 1984 to 1987.
Yu was the first in China to study shock tubes. He built up the shock tunnel of high performance and its necessary systems for instantaneous measurement. He not only put forward the project but also made a breakthrough of key difficulties in realizing shock tube flow and in measuring instantaneous quantities. He practised the application of shock tunnel to research and development of astronautical vehicles, and opened up a peculiar and inexpensive way for hypersonic flow experiments.
He proposed the attachment of a damping section at the end of the detonation driver to eliminating the high reflected pressure produced by detonation wave, thus the detonation driven shock tunnel can be employed to generate high enthalpy and high stagnation pressure test flow. His idea of relying alone on the compression energy of the air to cooling air to cryogenic temperature and had constructed the elemental cryogenic wind tunnel by means of such idea open up a new approach for constructing cryogenic wind tunnel with low operating costs. He proposed the concept of using normal shock tube to produce complete blast wave and successfully applied it to the facilities for shock-injury tests.
He was awarded 3 national prize of S&T progress and 12 ministerial prize for his work.
Yu was elected the academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1991.