1. Introduction
The Richtmyer–Meshkov instability (RMI) [
1,
2] is a physical phenomenon that occurs at the interface of two fluids with different densities when they are impulsively driven, typically by a shock wave. The interface perturbation increases in magnitude and results in material mixing because it is caused by pressure perturbation on both sides of the interface, as well as baroclinic vorticity that is deposited there as a result of the pressure and density gradients being out of alignment [
3]. The perturbation increases linearly for the RMI until its amplitude approaches that of its wavelength. Classic nonlinear characteristics of flow are the creation of bubbles and spikes, which represent the heavier fluid penetrating into the lighter fluid and the lighter fluid penetrating into the heavier fluid, respectively [
4,
5]. If the shock wave is strong enough and the initial disruption spans a wide range of scales, turbulent flow may be encouraged. Inertial confinement fusion (ICF), in which shock waves compress tiny capsules containing a deuterium–tritium fuel, is a process in which the RMI is essential [
6]. The idea of ICF is to get the capsule’s interior hot enough and pressurized enough to ignite the fuel. However, the fusion yield is decreased and ignition failure may result from the RMI-induced mixing of the inner fuel and outer shell. Numerous in-depth analyses of the RMI have been reported within the last few decades [
7,
8,
9].
In previous decades, there has been a lot of interest in the RMI on many complex shock wave interaction with density inhomogeneous shapes, including polygonal, spherical, elliptical, single, and multi-mode interfaces. Several experimental and computational studies were conducted to study the RMI growth on these types of inhomogeneous forms. A comprehensive experimental study of shock wave interaction with cylindrical/spherical gas bubbles was carried out by Haas and Sturtevant [
10]. The mechanics of the shock wave interaction with the spherical bubble was studied experimentally by Ranjan et al. [
11] in a divergent shock–refraction configuration. Building on the experimental findings of Haas and Sturtevant [
10], the shock wave interaction with gas bubbles was numerically investigated by Quirk and Karni [
12]. A numerical study by Shankar et al. [
13] examined the main effects of diffusive and viscous variables on the shock wave interaction with a massive cylindrical bubble. In diatomic and polyatomic gases, Singh et al. [
14] examined the shock wave interaction with light/heavy cylindrical bubbles under thermal non-equilibrium conditions numerically. With an emphasis on the influence of aspect ratio on flow morphology, Singh et al. [
15] carried out a numerical study on the shock wave interaction with elliptical interfaces. The analysis of the RMI evolution due to the interaction of shock waves with polygonal bubbles has received increased interest recently. Examining the RMI evolution resulting from the shock wave interaction with polygonal bubbles has garnered more attention recently [
16,
17,
18,
19,
20,
21]. These polygonal shapes provide more complex flow fields through the transmission of shock waves, reflections, reciprocal shock collisions, and regular and irregular refractions.
The research stated above mostly focuses on the shock wave interaction with 2D bubbles; few full 3D studies have been conducted to far. Hejazialhosseini et al. [
22] utilized volume rendering to depict the evolution of flow structures in a 3D shock–bubble interaction by determining the density and vorticity magnitude fields at a Mach number of 3. The interaction of shock waves with a low-density 3D spherical gas bubble was numerically given by Rybakin and Goryachev [
23], who also provided illustrations of the sphere’s deformation and instability generation. Subsequently, Rybakin et al. [
24] examined the processes of dense cluster and filament formation and growth, and they presented the findings of their numerical modeling of the collision process between two molecular clouds (MCs). Niederhaus et al. [
25] examined the morphology of multifluid compressible flow and time-dependent integral properties over a broad range of Mach and Atwood numbers, which arise from the 3D shock–bubble interaction in a gas environment. In order to study the impacts of initial interface curvature on flow structure, complex waves generation, vorticity production, and interface transit, Ding et al. [
26,
27] conducted experiments for the shock wave interaction with a 3D light/heavy spherical bubble. Recently, Onwuegbu [
28] performed 2D/3D computational fluid dynamics studies of the supersonic shock wave (Mach 1.25) interaction with a spherical bubble to fully understand the complex process involved in the shock–bubble interaction.
A previous study on the RMI has shown that the single-mode interface has garnered a lot of attention due to the fact that its interface configuration is quite straightforward. In a groundbreaking theoretical investigation, Richtmyer [
1] suggested an impulsive model with the purpose of predicting the linear growth rate of the single-mode interface during incompressible flow circumstances. The starting amplitude of the model was rather small. Afterwards, Meshkov [
2] conducted preliminary experiments in order to validate the impulsive model, which was discovered to accurately forecast the linear growth rate more accurately than it actually did. After this, several experimental, theoretical and computational studies on the RMI evolution of the single-mode interface have been conducted [
29,
30,
31]. Remarkably, the primary objective of theoretical RMI investigations is to predict the growth rate of the interface by employing models, such as linear and nonlinear ones, that were created for a single-mode sinusoidal interface [
32,
33,
34]. Using numerical simulations, researchers routinely investigate the expansion of mixing width as well as the evolution of turbulent mixing parameters [
35,
36,
37]. Large-eddy simulations were utilized by Thornber et al. [
38] in order to investigate the influence that different 3D multi-mode starting circumstances have on the overall development of the RMI. Lombardini et al. [
39] suggested that a two-gas mixing layer with a power law-governed Kolmogorov-like inertial subrange eventually evolves to a fully formed turbulent flow at a late time, for high enough incidence Mach numbers. This was discovered through the use of large-eddy simulations, which were used to investigate the RMI of single-shock-driven mixing. Mohaghar and colleagues [
40] carried out an experimental investigation with the purpose of determining the influence that the initial conditions have on the progression of the RMI throughout its evolution. Specifically, they investigated the nature of the impact that the strength of the event shock had on the mixing transition. The results of a comprehensive set of computations of two-dimensional single-mode RMI were presented by Probyn et al. [
41]. These results pertain to the early- and late-time behavior of the RMI.
An inclined interface creates perfect conditions for examining shock refraction in RMI research. This is due to the fact that it maintains a consistent incident angle throughout the whole edge of the interface. The interaction that takes place at the inclined gas–gas contact results in the formation of a complex wave pattern that can be broadly classified into regular and irregular systems. Shock tube experiments were used in Jahn’s revolutionary work [
42] to study the shock refraction–reflection situation at air–
or air–
interfaces. This work was a significant contribution to the field of refraction. The phenomenon of shock refraction–reflection at interfaces with inclined angles, which can be classified as either “fast/slow” or “slow/fast”, was examined in subsequent research [
43,
44,
45,
46,
47] for a variety of gas combinations. According to the findings of these research studies, differences in the incident angle led to different refraction patterns for a specific gas combination, even though the incident shock strength remained the same. Furthermore, a number of irregular refraction patterns were created as a result of the variable incidence shock strengths. A Mach stem was developed, which led to the identification of irregular refraction systems in the “fast/slow” scenario [
43]. On the other hand, the presence of bound and free precursor shocks led to the identification of irregular and regular refraction systems in the “slow/fast” scenario [
45]. Numerous investigations on the RMI of an inclined interface were published by McFarland et al. [
48,
49,
50,
51,
52,
53]. These studies examined the impacts of the initial shock Mach numbers, the Atwood number, inclination angles, and re-shock using theoretical, experimental, and numerical methods.
Luo et al. [
54] investigated experimentally the shock wave interaction with a ‘V’-shaped air/
gaseous interface to explore how the interface amplitude affects wavelength and its impact on the mixing width, which constitutes the primary findings. Later on, Zhai et al. [
55] conducted an experimental investigation into the RMI evolution on a shocked ‘V’-shaped air/helium gaseous interface. Research conducted by Wang et al. [
56] utilized numerical analysis to investigate the RMI of the V-shaped light/heavy arrangement. The flow patterns and the linear growth rate of the interface development were the primary areas of interest for the authors as they investigated the effects of the oblique angle and the Mach number. Recently, Alsaeed and Singh [
57] performed a computational study of the shocked V-shaped
/
interface across varying Mach numbers. Remarkably, the RMI evolution of the shocked gas interface flow is dependent on numerous physical parameters, such as the initial interface disturbance, the Atwood number, and the Mach number. The current study uses numerical simulations to construct a structured framework and revisits the experimental work on the shock wave interaction with a V-shaped heavy/light interface conducted by Zhai et al. [
55]. This study aims to enhance our understanding of the RMI evolution and vorticity production in a V-shaped heavy/light interface. The effects of the vertex angle, Mach number and Atwood number on flow structure, wave patterns, vorticity generation, kinetic energy and enstrophy progression, and interface features are the primary focus of this work.
The rest of the present study is organized as follows: The mathematical formulation, initial setup and important physical quantities are illustrated in
Section 2. The utilized numerical approach and its validation are described in
Section 3. An in-depth discussion on the numerical results for vextex angles and Mach number effects on the V-shaped
/He interface is presented in
Section 4. Finally, the conclusion remarks and outlooks for this study are presented in
Section 5.
5. Results and Discussion
In this section, the numerical results are presented for the shock wave interaction with the V-shaped /He interface. Emphasis is placed on the effects of vertex angles, shock Mach numbers and Atwood numbers on the evolution of flow morphology, wave patterns, vorticity formation, enstrophy and kinetic energy, and interface features. For numerical simulations, we choose six distinct vertex angles ( and ), five distinct shock wave strengths ( and ), and three different Atwood numbers ( and ).
5.1. Effects of Vertex Angles
5.1.1. Flow Morphology Visualization
Figure 6 and
Figure 7 illustrates the effects of vortex angles (
and
) on flow morphology evolution in the shock wave interaction with a V-shaped
/He interface at Mach numbers,
. A transmitted shock (TS) travels downwards within the V-shaped He interface when the incident shock wave interacts with the V-shaped
/He interface. On the other hand, a curved reflected shock (CRS) travels upwards in the nitrogen gas that surrounds the V-shaped interface. As a result of the slow sound speed of the helium interface, the velocity of the TS wave is much higher over the interface in comparison to the velocity of the IS wave coming from the outside. An inward jet (IJ) originates at the leading edge of the V-shaped helium interface and penetrates it deeply. Following this, the TS wave induces a refraction at the V-shaped helium interface, which leads to the creation of a fresh oblique shock wave in the surrounding gas known as the free precursor shock (FPS). The production of an irregular refraction wave pattern as a result of this phenomenon is known as “twin von Neumann refraction” (TNR). This pattern consists of a Mach stem (MS) and a triple point (TP) that are located outside of the interface. The baroclinic vorticity deposition causes the interface amplitude compressed by the IS wave to start decreasing, and a noticeable spike with a single, well-organized vortex pair appears. The evolution of the flow field is gradually affected by the IS wave over time, and the spike grows due to vorticity production, and it eventually becomes the most prominent feature in the flow field. During the contact phase, the KHI causes small-scale vortex forms to arise on the distorted V-shaped interface. The deformation of the V-shaped
/He interface gets progressively more complicated, with the flow field that is produced being predominantly governed by the spike that is formed in later stages.
In
Figure 6, it is evident that a smaller vertex angle leads to a greater interaction between the shock and the V-shaped interface. As the vertex angles grow, the distortion of the V-shaped interface reduces and becomes less significant. Notably, as
Figure 6 and
Figure 7 illustrate, the created spike at
is the longest of the five vertex angles, necessitating a more in-depth analysis. The compression phenomenon is more powerful in the circumstances of
,
, and
than it is in the cases of
,
and
, as shown in
Figure 6 and
Figure 7. As a result, the created wave patterns get increasingly complicated, and the V-space interface is substantially smaller. Furthermore, because of the baroclinic vorticity deposition, the rolled-up vortices become noticeably larger and stronger at low vertex angles. These vortices are particularly noticeable at the interface where the surrounding gas and the V-shaped interface meet. Remarkably, in the case of a low vertex angle (
), the generated spike is found to be complex at the downward center of the V-shaped interface.
The vertex angles’ effects on the interface deformation history of the shock wave interaction with the V-shaped
/He interface are illustrated in
Figure 8. This broadens the scope of our investigation into the impacts of the vertex angles. Following its passage through the IS wave, the frontal component of the V-shaped contact is crushed in that particular direction. As soon as the IS wave makes contact with the upstream section of the V-shaped interface at the beginning of the contact, the compression event begins. In the early instants at all vertex angles, the downstream of the V-shaped interface pushes forward due to the action of the IS wave. This occurs regardless of the angle of direction. The top and bottom downstream corners of the V-shaped interface eventually fold forward toward the axis, acquiring a divergent form. This occurs over the course of time. Baroclinic vorticity causes a spike to form at the frontal part of the V-shaped interface. The generated spike continues to enlarge with time. Compared to a small vertex angle, the magnitude of these rolled-up vortices on the interface is less in the case of
. For all five vertex angles, the rolled-up small-scaled vortices and the
spike exhibit complete control over the flow field of the shock wave interaction with the V-shaped
/He interface.
5.1.2. Vorticity Production Mechanism
Figure 9 schematically depicts the vorticity production during the first phase of the shock wave interaction of a V-shaped heavy/light interface. The plane IS wave in the shock wave interaction with the gas interface is dominated by the pressure gradient, whereas the V-shaped interface is dominated by the density gradient. Baroclinic vorticity is created and dispersed along the interface as the IS wave crosses the V-shaped interface. The mismatch between the pressure
and density
gradients, i.e.,
, which leads to baroclinic vorticity, is a key factor in the creation of RMI flows. The V-shaped interface does not significantly change when it passes over the IS wave. Furthermore, a Mach reflection occurs through the inclined interfaces when the IS wave interacts with the V-shaped interface via the Mach stem. Consequently, baroclinic vorticity is progressively activated over the V-shaped interface due to the Mach stem’s contribution to the pressure gradient in the vorticity production.
Figure 10 shows the vertex angles’ effects on the vorticity distribution of the shocked V-shaped
/He interface at time instant
. The vorticity is often at zero during the initial stages of the interaction as a general rule. At an early stage in the passage of the IS wave over the V-shaped interface, the discontinuity between the gas He and the ambient gas is the location where baroclinic vorticity is largely deposited locally on the interface. It is possible to see that the top and bottom of the V-shaped interface are where there is the most vorticity. This is because the pressure and density gradients in these areas are not perpendicular to one another. On the other hand, it is equal to zero in situations where the pressure and density gradients at the interface parallel each other along the axis of the interface. Significant amounts of positive and negative vorticity are produced on the top and bottom of the V-shaped contact. Upon an examination of
Figure 10, it is evident that a significant quantity of vorticity forms at the interface’s top and bottom horizontal sides, respectively, both positive and negative. At both the top and the bottom of the V-shaped contact, there is a very small quantity of both positive and negative vorticity. Additionally, a minute amount of vorticity, also known as either positive or negative vorticity, can be observed at the spike head, which is located on either the upper or lower plane of the left upstream side. Considering that this positive (negative) vorticity on the upper (lower) jet head is responsible for the enhanced spike movement, it is possible that there is a relationship between the creation of jets and the deposition of vorticity. A significant gap in the vorticity production is noticed during the interaction process for the various vertex angles in the shock wave interaction with the V-shaped
/He interface. This gap is observed for the various vertex angles. For a smaller vertex angle (i.e.,
), the shock wave encounters a steeper density gradient, resulting in a more intense vorticity generation due to the enhanced baroclinic effect. The shock wave reflects and refracts at more acute angles, leading to higher local vorticity concentrations near the vertex. The interaction can result in complex flow patterns, including the spike formation and enhanced mixing between the two fluids. For larger vertex angles (i.e.,
), the shock wave interaction with the interface is more oblique, resulting in a less intense vorticity generation. The distribution of vorticity tends to be more spread out, and the interaction is less complex. The resultant flow field has a lower vorticity magnitude and less pronounced mixing compared to smaller angles. These rolled-up vortices become less noticeable as vertex angles increase. In conclusion, the primary process at tiny vertex angles resulting in rolled-up vortices leads to the creation of vorticity.
Figure 11 displays the vertex angles effects on the spatially integrated fields of average, dilatational and baroclinic vorticities in the shock wave interaction with a V-shaped
/He interface. At the V-shaped interface, where the incident and reflected shock waves collide, the spatially integrated fields at
are the minimum of the five vertex angles, as seen in
Figure 11. At
, these fields significantly improve. For every vertex angle, the spatially integrated fields increase over time, indicating an increasing entrained volume of ambient gas into the deformed V-shaped
/He interface. More precisely, the average vorticity value rises when incident and reflected shock waves come into contact with the bubbles, as seen in
Figure 11a. Because of the greater vorticities’ stimulation of gas mixing both inside and outside the interface, which accelerates energy transmission and consumption, the average vorticity intensity of the V-shaped interface may gradually drop. Surprisingly, during the interaction, both vorticity production factors reach considerable values. Due to compressibility effects from tiny regions of expansion and compression, plotting the dilatational vorticity generating term displays locally stretched structures surrounding the vortex core, as seen in
Figure 11b.
Figure 11c shows how the plot of the baroclinic vorticity production term, which represents the vorticity generated by contact discontinuities and reflected shock structures, represents the misalignment of pressure and density gradients. The vortices formed by the shock wave–V-shaped interface contact help to mix the surrounding gas with the V-shaped He interface. The spatially integrated fields show their maximum development rate, with much greater vorticities, when the reflected shock waves strike the deformed bubble again. At that point, the flow field’s rate of expansion decreases. Consequently, the evolution of the spatially integrated fields may reveal a simple non-monotonic connection between the vorticity production terms and the ambient gas.
5.1.3. Progression Mechanism of Enstrophy and Kinetic Energy
Figure 12 shows the vertex angles’ effects on the spatially integrated fields of enstrophy and kinetic energy evolution in the shock wave interaction with the V-shaped
/He interface. There is no enstrophy up until the shock wave reaches the upstream pole of the V-shaped contact. For smaller vertex angles, the shock wave encounters a steeper density gradient, leading to a more intense baroclinic vorticity generation at the interface. This results in a rapid initial increase in enstrophy. The enstrophy graph, as illustrated in
Figure 12a, typically shows a steep rise shortly after the shock wave impacts the V-shaped interface, reaching a peak value quickly. This peak corresponds to the maximum vorticity generation due to the concentrated shock–interface interaction. After the initial peak, the enstrophy may decrease as vortices dissipate and interact, causing the vorticity field to become more diffused. However, the decay rate may be slower due to the formation of strong vortex structures that persist over time. High enstrophy is a result of a strong shear and intense vortex formation near the sharp vertex, where the shock-induced density and pressure gradients are most pronounced. On the other hand, for larger vertex angles, the shock wave encounters a more gradual density gradient, leading to a less intense baroclinic vorticity generation. The vorticity production is spread out over a larger area. The enstrophy graph typically shows a more gradual increase, reaching a lower peak value compared to smaller angles. The peak occurs later in time due to the less focused interaction. Enstrophy may decrease more rapidly as the generated vorticity is less intense and more spread out, leading to quicker dissipation. Lower enstrophy results from a weaker vortex formation and less intense shearing near the blunt vertex, where the shock-induced gradients are more diffused.
Figure 12b depicts the effect of vertex angles on the kinetic energy in the shock wave interaction with the V-shaped
/He interface. Till the shock wave reaches the upstream tip of the V-shape, enstrophy is zero. At smaller vertex angles, the shock wave encounters a steeper density gradient, resulting in intense baroclinic vorticity generation at the interface and a rapid rise in enstrophy. As shown in
Figure 12a, enstrophy increases sharply shortly after the shock impacts the interface, quickly reaching its peak, corresponding to the maximum vorticity generation from the focused shock–interface interaction. After this peak, enstrophy decreases as vortices dissipate and interact, though this decline may be slower if strong vortex structures persist. High enstrophy is due to an intense shear and vortex formation near the sharp vertex, where shock-induced density and pressure gradients are strongest. For larger vertex angles, the shock wave encounters a more gradual density gradient, leading to weaker baroclinic vorticity generation spread over a wider area. Enstrophy increases more gradually, reaching a lower and delayed peak. This is due to the less focused interaction and weaker vorticity production. Enstrophy then decreases more rapidly as the weaker, more diffused vortices dissipate faster. Lower enstrophy results from a reduced vortex formation and less intense shearing near the broader vertex, where shock-induced gradients are weaker and more distributed.
5.1.4. Quantitative Analysis of Deformation Interface
We present a quantitative study of the interface feature for the shock wave interaction with a V-shaped
/He interface in this subsection. As seen in
Figure 13, these interface properties include the displacement of the upstream interface, spike length (
), and vortex spacing (
).
Figure 14 shows the vertex angles’ effects on the temporal variations in the UI interface deformation
, and
parameters of the computed shock wave interaction with a V-shaped
/He interface following IS wave impingement. As
Figure 14a illustrates, the upstream interface’s (UI) early behavior in the V-shaped interface is similar for all vertex angles. Then, it accelerates, perhaps because the shock wave’s creation of rarefaction waves upon contact with the downstream contact causes it to do so. Because of the severe compression effects, the UI value of the V-shaped interface is higher at small vertex angles than it is at larger vertex angles. The UI displacement is shown to be greater at
and to decrease at
, based on the observations. Due to the continuous rotation of the spike, the small vertex angle
experiences a modest growth in temporal variations in spike length after the compression phase, while the larger vertex angle (
) experiences a slower growth in temporal variations in the generated spike length, as illustrated in
Figure 14b. It can be observed that the vortex pair’s continual rotation causes the spike spacing (
) to shift continuously.
Figure 14c demonstrates that the highest vertex spacing values are produced by a smaller vertex angle
, whilst the minimum vertex spacing value is produced by a larger vertex angle
.
5.2. Effects of Shock Mach Numbers
Figure 15 illustrates the effects of shock wave strengths (
and
) on the time evolution of the density contours in the shocked V-shaped
/He interface. It is found that a high Mach number results in a greater interaction between the shock and V-shaped interface. Additionally, the distortion of the V-shaped interface increases and becomes more substantial as the Mach number increases. Notably, the generated spike at
is the longest of the four scenarios, as
Figure 15d shows, requiring a more thorough examination. In the situations of
and
, the compression phenomena are stronger than in
and
. As a result, the V-shaped interface becomes noticeably thinner and the resulting wave patterns become more complicated. Moreover, at high Mach numbers, the rolled-up vortices grow notably stronger and larger due to the baroclinic vorticity deposition. The interface where the V-shaped interface meets the surrounding gas is where these vortices are most visible.
Figure 16 shows the effects of shock wave strengths on the vorticity distribution of the V-shaped
/He interface at
and at time instants
. At the shocked V-shaped
/He interface, a significant gap in vorticity generation is seen for the different shock Mach numbers during the contact process. A small quantity of vorticity is generated around the rolled-up vortices on the V-shaped interface for
. Based on Mach numbers, these rolled-up vortices are more prominent, as
Figure 16 demonstrates. In conclusion, when rolled-up vortices occur, the formation of vorticity is the main process that occurs at high Mach numbers.
Figure 17 shows the effects of shock wave strengths on the spatially integrated fields of the enstrophy and baroclinic vorticty. A timeline of enstrophy’s progression is presented in
Figure 17a. Up until the shock wave reaches the upstream pole of the V-shaped interface, there is no enstrophy. As the shock wave moves through, baroclinic vorticity is created, which causes it to climb. At the V-shaped interface where the IS and CRS waves impinge, there is an increase in enstrophy. Consequently, as
Figure 17a shows, higher vorticities promote gas mixing both inside and outside the gas interface, accelerating the transfer of energy and its consumption. In the long run, this may lessen the degree of enstrophy at the V-shaped interface zone. Every Mach number exhibits the same phenomenon. Stronger shock waves cause more enstrophy; hence, the only difference in overall enstrophy levels is observed. Additionally,
Figure 17b shows the plotted evolution of baroclinic vorticity, which varies and depends on Mach numbers. It is clear that when Mach numbers increase, baroclinic vorticity increases significantly.
5.3. Effects of Atwood Numbers
The implications of a negative Atwood number on the shock wave interaction with a V-shaped /He interface at are finally briefly discussed in this section. The configuration known as “slow/fast” or “heavy/light” occurs when the V-shaped interface density is lower than the surrounding gas density. This is indicated by a negative Atwood number, or . Towards this goal, we consider three different light gases, with negative Atwood numbers of , and , respectively: hydrogen (), helium (He), and neon (Ne). In these situations, the shock wave propagates faster inside than outside the interfaces because of the low acoustic impedance within them. As a result, the incident shock wave outside the V-shaped interface moves considerably ahead of the transmitted shock waves inside the V-shaped interface. Significant discrepancies are observed between the flow configurations generated and the corresponding RM instability as the value lowers.
Figure 18 displays the Atwood number (
, and
) impacts on the flow fields and vorticity generation of the shock wave interaction with the V-shaped
/He interface with
and
at time
. In all three cases, spikes are generated in the flow field during the interaction process. It can be seen that as
decreases, the length of the generated spike increases. Moreover, the KH instability’s moderate size, which is typified by rolled-up vortices, grows and becomes more noticeable at the interface. The generated spike that is produced eventually grows and takes control of the entire flow fields. The effects of positive Atwood numbers on the spatially integrated fields of baroclinic vorticity and enstrophy in the shock wave interaction with a V-shaped
/He interface are depicted in
Figure 19. It is noticed that the spatially integrated values of baroclinic vortcity and enstrophy decrease with a decreasing Atwood number.
6. Concluding Remarks
In this research, we conducted a numerical study of the shock wave interaction with a V-shaped /He interface. Emphasis was placed on the impacts of vertex angles and shock Mach numbers on the evolution of flow morphology, wave patterns, vorticity formation, enstrophy and kinetic energy, and interface features. For numerical simulations, we choose six distinct vertex angles ( and ), five different shock Mach numbers ( and ), and three different Atwood numbers ( and ). A third-order modal discontinuous Galerkin approach was used to simulate unstable compressible two-component Euler equations, which produced high-resolution numerical simulations. The computational model was validated with existing experimental results.
The numerical results show that the shock wave interaction with the V-shaped /He interface is highly sensitive to the vertex angles as well shock Mach numbers. For the V-shaped interface, a spike emerges after the shock wave impact, and subsequently, “twin von Neumann refraction” phenomena take place. The production of prominent vortices and a more evident spike occur at small vertex angles due to increased vorticity on the interface. On the other hand, at wide vertex angles, less vorticity is deposited, resulting in minimal interface deformation and underdeveloped spikes. A detailed analysis of the effects of vertex angles is also provided in order to clarify the mechanics underlying the creation of vorticity throughout the interaction process. Notably, smaller vertex angles lead to stronger vorticity generation due to a steeper density gradient, while larger angles result in weaker, more dispersed vorticity and a less complex interaction. Interestingly, vorticity turns out to be an important factor in explaining important aspects of the shock wave interaction at the V-shaped interface. We also conducted a quantitative analysis of the interface features and integral quantity time fluctuations. Additionally, we briefly presented the impacts of different Mach numbers on the shock wave interaction with the V-shaped /He interface. Finally, the effects of negative Atwood numbers on the V-shaped interface are investigated. This study on the shock wave interaction with a V-shaped heavy/light interface offers valuable insights for applications in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and industrial combustion. In ICF, understanding the impact of vertex angles on energy and vorticity distribution can optimize target designs for better energy transfer and stability. In combustion, these findings can guide the design of nozzles and injectors to enhance mixing efficiency, leading to improved combustion performance and lower emissions.
The aim of this research was to investigate the vertex angles and Mach numbers on the shock wave interaction with a V-shaped heavy/light interface. Interestingly, the nature of RMI becomes even more complex and interesting when the V-shaped heavy/light interface is subjected to re-shock conditions. It is anticipated that further research will expand on this work by investigating the evolution of RMI at the V-shaped heavy/light interface or at more intricate interface forms in the context of re-shock. Our knowledge of vertex angles and shock Mach number impacts in practical applications may be improved by this study.