Shock wave formation as a result of interaction with a weak discontinuity on the boundary of a local subsonic zone

A self-similar solution, which explains the formation of a strong-family shock wave (Mach number behind the wave less than unity) on the sonic line, is obtained for the Tricomi equation of plane potential flow in hodograph variables. A characteristic with a discontinuity of the derivatives of the gas dynamic parameters arrives at the formation (interaction) point, while the characteristic of the other family leaving this point does not contain a singularity. The intensity of the shock wave varies along its generator in accordance with a power law with an exponent close to unity. At the interaction point the discontinuity of the derivatives along the streamline is equal to infinity.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 152–158, July–August, 1990.The results were presented at the G. G. Chernyi seminar. The author is grateful to the seminar director and the participants for useful discussions.     

Interaction Between a Slow Magnetohydrodynamic Shock Wave and a Tangential Discontinuity

The self-similar problem of the oblique interaction between a slow MHD shock wave and a tangential discontinuity is solved within the framework of the ideal magnetohydrodynamic model. The constraints on the initial parameters necessary for the existence of a regular solution are found. Various feasible wave flow patterns are found in the steady-state coordinate system moving with the line of intersection of the discontinuities. As distinct from the problems of interaction between fast shock waves and other discontinuities, when the incident shock wave is slow the state ahead of it cannot be given and must to be determined in the process of solving the problem. As an example, a flow in which the slow shock wave incident on the tangential discontinuity is generated by an ideally conducting wedge located in the flow is considered. The basic features of the developing flows are determined.     

Evolution of weak shocks in one dimensional planar and non-planar gasdynamic flows

Asymptotic decay laws for planar and non-planar shock waves and the first order associated discontinuities that catch up with the shock from behind are obtained using four different approximation methods. The singular surface theory is used to derive a pair of transport equations for the shock strength and the associated first order discontinuity, which represents the effect of precursor disturbances that overtake the shock from behind. The asymptotic behaviour of both the discontinuities is completely analysed. It is noticed that the decay of a first order discontinuity is much faster than the decay of the shock; indeed, if the amplitude of the accompanying discontinuity is small then the shock decays faster as compared to the case when the amplitude of the first order discontinuity is finite (not necessarily small). It is shown that for a weak shock, the precursor disturbance evolves like an acceleration wave at the leading order. We show that the asymptotic decay laws for weak shocks and the accompanying first order discontinuity are exactly the ones obtained by using the theory of non-linear geometrical optics, the theory of simple waves using Riemann invariants, and the theory of relatively undistorted waves. It follows that the relatively undistorted wave approximation is a consequence of the simple wave formalism using Riemann invariants.     

Propagation of discontinuities against a static background

The solution of the ideal gasdynamic equations describing propagation of a shock wave initiated, for example, by the motion of a piston against an inhomogeneous static background is considered. The solution is constructed in the form of Taylor series in a special time variable which is equal to zero on the shock wave. In the case of weak shock waves divergence of the series serves as the constraint for such an approach. Then the solution is constructed by linearizing the equations about the solution with a weak discontinuity. In the case of a given background the last solution can be always found exactly by solving successively a set of transport equations, all these equations are reduced to linear ordinary differential equations. The presentation begins from the one-dimensional solutions with plane waves and ends by discussion of spatial problems.     

The nature of the triple point singularity in the case of stationary reflection of weak shock waves

The structure of flow in the vicinity of a triple point in the problem of stationary irregular reflection of weak shock waves is numerically investigated within the framework of the Euler model, including the von Neumann paradox range. To improve the accuracy of the solution near singular points a new technology including a grid contracted toward the triple point and the discontinuity fitting is applied. It is shown that in the four-wave flow pattern the curvatures of the tangential discontinuity and the Mach front at the triple point are finite. The singularity is concentrated only in a sector between the reflected wave front and the expansion fan. When the three-wave flow pattern is realized, the curvatures of the tangential discontinuity and both wave fronts at the triple point are infinite. On the range of weak and moderate shock waves the logarithmic singularity in subsonic sectors near the triple point conserves up to transition to the regular reflection.     

Classification of pseudo-steady shock wave reflection types

Classification of various types of the reflections of a shock wave over a straight wedge is proposed. The idea about entire reflection phenomenon as a result of interaction of two processes—the shock wave reflection process and the flow deflection process—serves as a basis for the classification. To recognize the types of reflection, changes in the shapes of the reflected wave, Mach stem, and contact surface (slipstream) are taken into account. The boundaries and domains of existence for various types of reflection configuration are reported. New terms for some types of reflection are proposed. The domain of irregular non-Mach reflection is analyzed carefully. It is shown that the von Neumann reflection pattern can result from not only the weak shock reflection but also the strong shock reflection over thin wedges. Shadowgraph images of different types of irregular reflection that illustrate the suggested classification are presented. Emphasis is placed on near-wall behavior of the contact discontinuity in the Mach configuration.     

The numerical simulations of explosion and implosion in air: use of a modified Harten's TVD scheme

Numerical simulations of explosion and implosion in air are carried out with a modified Harten's TVD scheme. The new scheme has a high resolution for contact discontinuities in addition to maintaining the good features of Harten's TVD scheme. In the numerical experiment of spherical explosion in air, the second shock wave (which does not exist in the one‐dimensional shock tube problem) and its subsequent implosion on the origin have been successfully captured. The positions of the main shock wave, the contact discontinuity and the second shock wave have shown satisfactory agreement with those predicted from previous analysis. The numerical results are also compared with those obtained experimentally. Finally, simulations of a cylindrical explosion and implosion in air are carried out. Results of the cylindrical implosion in air are compared with those of previous work, including the interaction of the reflected main shock wave with the contact discontinuity and the formation of a second shock wave. All these attest to the successful use of the modified Harten's TVD scheme for the simulations of shock waves arising from explosion and implosion. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Weak discontinuities in a chemically reacting atmosphere

Summary The growth and decay of a weak discontinuity headed by a singular surface of arbitrary shape in three dimensions is investigated in a chemically reacting atmosphere, in the absence of dissipative mechanisms such as viscosity, diffusion and heat conduction. The combined effects of the disequilibrium due to the chemical reaction and a wave front curvature on the propagation of discontinuities have been examined and discussed. It has been observed that the chemical disequilibrium, with its Arrhenius rate dependence, causes the compression wave to steepen more swiftly that it does in an inert atmosphere. The critical values of the initial discontinuity, and time for shock formation, in cases of diverging and converging waves, have been determined.     

Interaction of a Streamwise Vortex with an Oblique Shock Wave

Interaction of a supersonic streamwise vortex with an oblique shock wave is considered. A mathematical model of the streamwise vortex is constructed. Three interaction regimes (weak, moderate, and strong) are found. It is shown numerically that vortex breakdown is possible in the case of strong interaction. The influence of the governing parameters on the interaction type is studied. It is shown that the main effect on the interaction type is exerted by the streamwise velocity and angle of the wedge forming the shock wave. The effect of splitting of the primary vortex on the shock wave in the case of moderate and strong interaction regimes is found.     

Dynamics of discontinuity formation in a cavitating liquid layer under shock wave loading

The problem of experimental modeling of discontinuity formation in a cavitating liquid layer under shock wave loading is considered. It is shown that the discontinuity takes the shape of a spherical segment and retains it up to the closure instant. The discontinuity surface becomes covered with a dynamically growing thin boundary layer consisting of bubbles, which transforms to a ring-shaped vortex bubble cluster at the instant of the discontinuity closure, generating a secondary shock wave. Specific features of the structure of the cavitating flow discontinuity arising at loading intensities lower than 0.1 and 5 kJ are discussed.     

Nonlinear analysis of the flow initiated by the sudden motion of a wedge

Certain self-similar problems involving the sudden motion of a wedge which were treated in the linear approximation in [1–3] are studied by the method of matched asymptotic expansions. The nature of the wave boundary of the perturbed region is determined. Second-approximation solutions are constructed which describe flows behind weak shock fronts propagating in a stationary gas and behind fronts of weak discontinuity lines propagating by known uniform flows. A boundary-value problem is formulated whose solution describes, in first approximation, flows in the neighborhoods of points of interaction of the fronts. The existence of similarity rules of flows in these nieghborhoods is estimated. An approximate solution of the problems is given.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 3, pp. 37–47, May–June, 1976.     

Interaction of shock waves with a combined discontinuity in two-phase media. 2. Nonequilibrium approximation

Interaction of a shock wave and a motionless combined discontinuity separating two twocomponent mixtures with different initial volume concentrations is studied on the basis of numerical simulation of unsteady processes. The calculations were performed using a modified method of coarse particles and a highaccuracy TVD difference scheme adapted to calculation of twophase flows. Flow parameters determined by analytical dependences coincide with those obtained by numerical simulation at large times of the process. Upon interaction of the shock wave and the combined discontinuity, the type of the transient or reflected shock wave may coincide with or differ from the type of the incident shock wave. The possibility of existence of a pressure difference at the combined discontinuity boundary, which was earlier predicted analytically, is confirmed.     

Structure of supersonic inviscid nonsymmetric conical flow around a V-wing

The shock wave structure of flow around a V-wing and its properties determining the conical flow topology are numerically investigated within the framework of the inviscid gas model on a wide range of the angles of attack and yaw when in the disturbed supersonic flow either nonsymmetric Mach interaction between the shocks attached to the leading edges of the wing or a shockless flow in the compressed layer on the windward cantilever is realized. The subranges of the angles of attack and yaw with the disturbed flow properties characteristic of the wing of the given geometry are determined. It is found that at high angles of attack, when the branching point of the bow shock beneath the leeward cantilever generates an intense contact discontinuity, the structure of the conical flow in the shock layer on the windward cantilever involves a singularity of a new type which can be characterized as a “vortical” Ferri singularity. It is located above the point of convergence of the streamlines proceeding from the leading edges of the wing, at the vertex of the corresponding contact discontinuity. Flow patterns with the point of convergence of the streamlines proceeding from the leading edges located in the elliptical flow region, which is placed at a local maximum of the pressure distribution over the surface are also found. The range of the angles of attack and yaw on which this new property of supersonic conical flows is realized in the presence of a branched shock system is determined.     

Existence and interaction of acceleration wave with a characteristic shock in transient pinched plasma

In this paper, the evolution of an acceleration wave and a characteristic shock for the system of partial equations describing one dimensional, unsteady, axisymmetric motion of transient pinched plasma has been considered. The amplitude of the acceleration wave propagating along the characteristic associated with the largest eigenvalue has been evaluated. The interaction of the acceleration wave with the characteristic shock has been investigated. The amplitudes of the reflected and transmitted waves and the jump in the shockwave acceleration after interaction are evaluated.     

Numerical solution of the problem of wave diffraction by a wedge

The systematic development of the theory of shock reflection from a solid wall started in [1]. Regular reflection and a three-shock configuration originating in Mach reflection were considered there under the assumption of homogeneity of the domains between the discontinuities and, therefore, of rectilinearity of these latter. The difficulties of the theoretical study include the essential nonlinearity of the process as well as the instability of the tangential discontinuity originating during Mach reflection. Analytic solutions of the problem in a linear formulation are known for a small wedge angle or a weak wave (see [2–4], for example). The solution in a nonlinear formulation has been carried out numerically in [5, 6] for arbitrary wedge angles and wave intensities. Since the wave was nonstationary, the internal flow configuration is difficult to clarify by means of the constant pressure and density curves presented. A formulation of the problem for the complete system of gasdynamics equations in self-similar variables is given in [7] and a method of solution is proposed but no results are presented. Difficulties with the instability of the contact discontinuity are noted. The problem formulation in this paper is analogous to that proposed in [7]. However, a method of straight-through computation without extraction of the compression shocks in the flow field is selected to compute the discontinuous flows. The shocks and contact discontinuities in such a case are domains with abrupt changes in the gasdynamics parameters. The computations were carried out for a broad range of interaction angles and shock intensities. The results obtained are in good agreement with the analytical solutions and experimental results. Information about the additional rise in reflection pressure after the Mach foot has been obtained during the solution.     

Impact of the interplanetary magnetic field on thewave flow pattern in the neighborhood of the Earth’s bow shock under sharp variations in the solar wind dynamic pressure

The impact of the interplanetary magnetic field on transformation and disintegration of the Earth’s bow shock into a system of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shock waves, rotational discontinuities and rarefaction waves under the action of abrupt variations in the solar wind dynamic pressure is simulated in the three-dimensional non-plane-polarized formulation within the framework of the ideal magnetohydrodynamic model using the solution of the MHD Riemann problem of breakdown of an arbitrary discontinuity. This discontinuity arises when a contact discontinuity, on which the solar wind density increases or decreases suddenly and which travels together with the solar wind, impinges on the Earth’s bow shock and propagates along its surface. The interaction pattern is constructed in the quasisteady- state formulation as a mosaic of exact solutions obtained on computer using an original MHD Riemann solver. The wave flow patterns are found for all elements of the surface of the bow shock as functions of their latitude and longitude for various jumps in the density on the contact discontinuity and characteristics parameters of the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field at the Earth’s orbit. It is found that when the solar wind dynamic pressure increases, a fast MHD shock wave, that first penetrates into the magnetosheath, is always formed. When the solar wind dynamic pressure decreases, the influence of the interplanetary magnetic field can lead to the development of the leading fast MHD shock wave in certain zones on the surface of the Earth’s bow shock. The solution obtained can be used to interpret measurements on spacecraft in the solar wind at the libration point and in the neighborhood of the Earth’s magnetosphere.     

Gas content factor in the interaction of shock waves of different intensity in a two-phase gas-liquid medium

The transition from regular to Mach interaction is investigated in connection with the interaction of two plane weak or moderate shock waves of different intensity in a two-phase gas-liquid medium over the entire range of gas contents. A nonmonotonic dependence of the transition limit and the flow parameters on the gas content is detected. The investigation extends the results of [1] corresponding to the reflection of a shock wave from a wall. At intermediate gas contents in the case of opposing shock waves, analogous to the normal reflection of a shock wave from a solid wall, the results are in agreement with [2]. In the case of weak shock waves non-linear asymptotic expansions [3] are employed. In the extreme cases of single-phase media the results coincide with the findings of [3, 4]. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 172–174, November–December, 1986.     

Stability of Contact Discontinuities for the 1-D Compressible Navier-Stokes Equations

In this paper, we study the large-time asymptotic behavior of solutions of the one-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes system toward a contact discontinuity, which is one of the basic wave patterns for the compressible Euler equations. It is proved that such a weak contact discontinuity is a metastable wave pattern, in the sense introduced in [24], for the 1-D compressible Navier-Stokes system for polytropic fluid by showing that a viscous contact wave, which approximates the contact discontinuity on any finite-time interval for small heat conduction and then runs away from it for large time, is nonlinearly stable with a uniform convergence rate provided that the initial excess mass is zero. This result is proved by an elaborate combination of elementary energy estimates with a weighted characteristic energy estimate, which makes full use of the underlying structure of the viscous contact wave.     

Some results of a numerical analysis of transient waves in gas suspensions

Special aspects of the transmission of transient waves through gas mixtures carrying suspended solid particles of chemically inert substances are examined. The influence of the parameters of the gas suspension on the conditions governing the occurrence of transient processes is discussed. The interaction of shock waves with a dust-laden half-space is considered. The results of calculations relating to the decay of an arbitrary discontinuity during the reflection of a shock wave from a wall are presented.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 64–69, September–October, 1976.