The late-time development of the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability

Journal Article · Tue Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 2000 · Physics of Fluids (1994)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.870456· OSTI ID:20217071

Prasad, J K ^[1]; Rasheed, A ^[1]; Kumar, S ^[1]; Sturtevant, B ^[1]

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1. Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125 (United States)

Measurements have been made of the growth by the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability of nominally single-scale perturbations on an air/sulfur hexafluoride (SF{sub 6}) interface in a large shock tube. An approximately sinusoidal shape is given to the interface by a wire mesh which supports a polymeric membrane separating the air from the SF{sub 6}. A single shock wave incident on the interface induces motion by the baroclinic mechanism of vorticity generation. The visual thickness {delta} of the interface is measured from schlieren photographs obtained singly in each run and in high-speed motion pictures. Data are presented for {delta} at times considerably larger than previously reported, and they are tested for self-similarity including independence of initial conditions. Four different initial amplitude/wavelength combinations at one incident shock strength are used to determine the scaling of the data. It is found that the growth rate decreases rapidly with time, d{delta}/dt{proportional_to}t{sup -p} (i.e., {delta}{proportional_to}t{sup 1-p}), where 0.67(less-or-similar sign)p(less-or-similar sign)0.74 and that a small dependence on the initial wavelength {lambda}{sub 0} persists to large time. The larger value of the power law exponent agrees with the result of the late-time-decay similarity law of Huang and Leonard [Phys. Fluids 6, 3765-3775 (1994)]. The influence of the wire mesh and membrane on the mixing process is assessed. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics.

• OSTI ID: 20217071
• Journal Information: Physics of Fluids (1994), Journal Name: Physics of Fluids (1994) Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 12; ISSN 1070-6631; ISSN PHFLE6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLUID MECHANICS
FLUIDS
INSTABILITY
INSTABILITY GROWTH RATES
INTERFACES
MIXING
PERTURBATION THEORY
PHOTOGRAPHY
SCHLIEREN METHOD
SHOCK TUBES
SHOCK WAVES
SULFUR FLUORIDES
THEORETICAL DATA
THICKNESS