Numerical simulation of shock wave interaction with a water column

The paper describes a scheme which is based on the CIP scheme and modified to properly describe a gas/liquid interface without smearing the density jump across the interface. This was achieved by calculating the density separately for each phase. The density at each grid point was determined by using a density function in a similar fashion as CIP. As a result a sharp density gradient was obtainable throughout the flow field and the scheme could handle properly gas/liquid interfaces having a large density ratio. Shock wave interaction with a cylindrical water column was simulated. The numerical results were compared with appropriate interferograms. Good agreement was found between the two. The results obtained for the cylindrical water column were compared with a similar solid cylinder case. The comparison reveled that even 40 s after shock impingement some differences were found between a liquid column and the solid cylinder. Received 11 July 2000 / Accepted 28 March 2001