Chapter 8.1 - Two Dimensional Interactions: 8.1 Oblique Shock Wave Reflections

Abstract

This chapter discusses oblique shock wave reflections. When a shock wave propagating in a medium encounters another medium obliquely, it experiences a reflection that is known as oblique shock wave reflection. The reflection of shock waves can be divided into regular reflection (RR) or irregular reflections (IR). The RR consists of two shock waves. They meet on the reflecting surface at the reflection point. All the other wave configurations are termed IR. The IR can be divided, in general, into Mach reflections (MR) and yon Neumann reflections (vNR). The MR consists of three shock waves and one slipstream. The point, where the Mach stem touches the reflecting surface is the reflection point. There are cases in which the reflected shock wave degenerates, near the triple point, to a compression wave. When this is the case, the reflection is not an MR but a vNR. The analytical approaches for describing the RR, i.e., the two-shock theory, and the MR, i.e., the three-shock theory, wave configurations were both initiated by von Neumann. Both theories make use of the conservation equations across an oblique shock wave, together with appropriate boundary conditions.