On the double-sided shock diffractions in quiescent and supersonic crossflows

Abstract

Shock diffraction is a widespread phenomenon in aerospace applications, such as shock tunnel nozzle and jet exciter exit, impacting their performance significantly. This paper focuses on the transient evolution of double-sided shock diffraction in both quiescent and supersonic crossflows by unsteady numerical simulations. The characteristics of the shock wave and the vortex are revealed. In the quiescent flow, the double-sided shock diffraction exhibits remarkable symmetry. The diffracted shock retains a self-similar nature, but its intensity distribution displays non-uniform characteristics, which gradually weakens from the center to both sides. The vortices on both sides also exhibit symmetrical behavior, with their trajectory behaving in linear tendency. When the supersonic crossflow interacts with the diffracted shock, an upward-moving separation shock and an asymmetric diffracted shock are generated. The vortices remain confined beneath the boundary layer and exhibit different shapes. Moreover, due to the rapid motion of the separation shock, the relative Mach number is introduced into the free-interaction theory (FIT) to predict the shock angle of the separation shock. The F(x¯) values corresponding to the separation point and pressure plateau are determined to be 3.04 and 4.68, respectively. The results evaluated by modified FIT show a good agreement with the values of simulation and experiment.