Unsteady shock waves are formed by the coalescence of pressure waves. The attenuationof pressure and shock waves in general is of great importance in a wide varietyof application such as vehicle performance, health and safety. Previous researcheshave been carried out on a variety of geometries to understand the physics. Theaim of this project is to advance the previous-state-of-the-art and to shed furtherlight into the fundamental physics associated with the shock wave interactions andphenomena. Shock wave attenuation was studied by using rough walls in a three-pipe system. The roughness at the walls is added by placing grooves on the upper and lower wallsof the junctions. The angles of the branch pipe were varied from 30 to 150 degrees. Shock wave interactions with a co-flow jet were also examined. All the experimentswere performed for driver gas (air) pressures of 4, 8, and 12 bar and atmosphericpressure within the driven section, giving theoretical Mach number of 1.34, 1.54, and1.66, respectively. Three different velocities, 114, 138, and 178 m/s, were used forthe co-flow jet. High-speed schlieren photography, particle image velocimetry (PIV),and pressure measurements techniques were employed to visualise and quantify theflow field. Expansion and compression waves produced by the grooves led to a highly unsteadyflow field, an increase to the pressure upstream, and the formation of asecondary shock wave. The pressure of the incident shock front was reduced by anestimated 20%. A maximum of 10% reduction of velocity of the shock front at theexit was achieved. The shock vortex/ structure led to multiple reflections, distortionof the vortical field, a lambda-shock configuration and pressure fluctuations. Theinfluence of the co-flow jet dissipated the shock/vortex structure, and attenuatedthe pressure peaks caused by multiple reflections. Complementing this investigation the testing of pressure sensitive paints (PSP)for the use of unsteady and high speed flows was carried out. The results showedthat the use of luminophores with high intensity output, and pressure sensitivityapplied on a porous material were the most suitable PSPs for these applications.