Investigation of shock wave interactions involving stationary and moving wedges

Abstract

The present study investigates the shock wave interactions involving stationary and moving wedges using a sharp interface immersed boundary method combined with a fifth-order weighted essentially non-oscillatory scheme. Inspired by Schardin’s problem, which involves moving shock interaction with a finite triangular wedge, we study the influence of incident shock Mach numbers and corner angles on the resulting flow physics under both stationary and moving conditions. The present study involves three incident shock Mach numbers (1.3, 1.9, and 2.5) and three corner angles (60°, 90°, and 120°), while its impact on the vorticity production is investigated using the vorticity transport equation, circulation, and rate of circulation production. Furthermore, the results yield that the generation of the vorticity due to the viscous effects is quite dominant compared to the baroclinic or compressibility effects. The moving cases presented involve shock driven wedge problems. The fluid and wedge structure dynamics are coupled using the Newtonian equation. These shock driven wedge cases show that wedge acceleration due to the shock results in a change in reflected wave configuration from single Mach reflection to double Mach reflection. The intermediary state between them, the transition Mach reflection, is also observed in the process. The effect of shock Mach numbers and corner angles on the triple point trajectory, as well as on the drag coefficient, is analyzed in this study.