Influence of baroclinic vorticity production on unsteady drag coefficient in shock–particle interaction

Abstract

The influence of baroclinic vorticity production on the unsteady drag coefficient in shock–particle interaction is numerically studied. Numerical simulations are performed for shock–particle interaction utilizing a high–resolution axisymmetric solver for the Euler equations that allows for multi-material interface and shock propagation in both the particle and surrounding medium. We consider an aluminum particle in nitromethane and allow for particle deformation. We compute the vorticity production and unsteady drag coefficient as a function of time to explain the complex physical mechanisms that occur during shock–particle interaction. We observe baroclinic vorticity production as the shock propagates over the particle and find that the vorticity is primarily generated at the surface of the particle. After the passage of the shock over the particle, the generated vortex traverses downstream, thus creating a sharpened particle edge and low pressure on the downstream side of the particle, followed by the trapping of the vortex at the particle edge. These mechanisms lead to the generation of a quasi-steady drag force even after the passage of the shock, thus suggesting the importance of baroclinic vorticity production to the unsteady drag coefficient. Finally, we compute the unsteady drag coefficient for various shock Mach numbers and particle ellipticities.