The phenomenon of shock waves can be commonly seen in fuel spray under ultra-high injection pressure conditions, where the spray jet penetrates at speeds greater than Mach 1. This paper focuses on the induction of shock waves and their propagation characteristics generated by a supersonic fuel jet at 400 MPa, and simultaneously considers the impact of jet atomization. A specially designed atomizer, utilizing diaphragm rupture, was adopted to replace the traditional electronic valves fuel system to meet the ultra-high injection pressure. Visualization of the spray field by using a high-speed camera was conducted, and a Schlieren apparatus was equipped for shock capturing based on a variable environmental density distribution. The experimental results indicated that the leading edge shock wave shows two forms in the early stage, and each penetrates in a unique way. Along with the spray development, multiple expansion waves were sequentially generated, followed by the leading shock wave. The evolution of wave velocity over time was calculated from the penetration results, and the results showed that the velocity first increased rapidly and then slowly decreased as a result of the effect of air resistance, with a gradual tendency of decreasing for the four peak velocities of the intensity weakened waves. In addition, the spray convex flow path had an inhibitive effect on the deceleration of the first expansion wave. These results give an insight into diesel spray and propagation process of induced shock waves at an under ultra-high injection pressure of 400 MPa. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.