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Title: Observation of single-mode, Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a supersonic flow

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [4];  [1];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
  2. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Nuclear Research Center - Negev, Beer Sheva (Israel)
  3. Nuclear Research Center - Negev, Beer Sheva (Israel); Ben Gurion Univ. of the Negev, Beer Sheva (Israel)
  4. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Nuclear Research Center - Negev, Beer Sheva (Israel); Ben Gurion Univ. of the Negev, Beer Sheva (Israel)

This manuscript reports the first observations of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability evolving from well-characterized seed perturbations in a steady, supersonic flow. The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability occurs when two fluids move parallel to one another at different velocities, and contributes to an intermixing of fluids and transition to turbulence. It is ubiquitous in nature and engineering, including terrestrial systems such as cloud formations, astrophysical systems such as supernovae, and laboratory systems such as fusion experiments. In a supersonic flow, the growth rate of the instability is inhibited due to effects of compressibility. These effects are still not fully understood, and hold the motivation for the current work. The data presented here were obtained by developing a novel experimental platform capable of sustaining a steady shockwave over a precision-machined interface for unprecedented durations. The chosen interface was a well-characterized, single-mode sine wave, allowing us to document the evolution of individual vortices at high resolution. Understanding the behavior of individual vortices is the first of two fundamental steps towards developing a comprehensive model for the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a compressible flow. The results of this experiment were well reproduced with 2D hydrodynamic simulations. The platform has been extended to additional experiments, which study the evolution of different hydrodynamic instabilities in steady, supersonic flows.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Laser User Facility Program (NLUF)
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0002032; NA0001840; FC52-08NA28302
OSTI ID:
1336026
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1222512
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Vol. 115, Issue 14; ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 30 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (13)

Late-Time Mixing Sensitivity to Initial Broadband Surface Roughness in High-Energy-Density Shear Layers journal November 2016
Impact of ablator thickness and laser drive duration on a platform for supersonic, shockwave-driven hydrodynamic instability experiments journal March 2017
Observation of dual-mode, Kelvin-Helmholtz instability vortex merger in a compressible flow journal May 2017
Shock-driven discrete vortex evolution on a high-Atwood number oblique interface journal March 2018
Late-time mixing and turbulent behavior in high-energy-density shear experiments at high Atwood numbers journal May 2018
Construction and validation of a statistical model for the nonlinear Kelvin-Helmholtz instability under compressible, multimode conditions journal December 2018
The modeling of delayed-onset Rayleigh-Taylor and transition to mixing in laser-driven HED experiments journal May 2019
Turbulent mixing and transition criteria of flows induced by hydrodynamic instabilities journal August 2019
Shock-driven hydrodynamic instability of a sinusoidally perturbed, high-Atwood number, oblique interface journal June 2019
Turbulent transport and mixing in the multimode narrowband Richtmyer-Meshkov instability journal September 2019
Observation and analysis of emergent coherent structures in a high-energy-density shock-driven planar mixing layer experiment journal August 2016
Disruption of a Planet Spiraling into its Host Star journal September 2018
Disruption of a planet spiralling into its host star text January 2018