Shock–vortex interactions in a soap film

Abstract

This work experimentally visualizes the interaction of a quasi-one-dimensional moving shock wave with a two-dimensional vortex in a soap film for the first time. A vertical soap film shock tube was used to generate a quasi-one-dimensional moving shock wave and a NACA-0012 airfoil intruded into the soap film was towed to shed the starting vortex. The interesting interaction phenomena were then visualized using a traditional high-speed flash photography. The concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) used was 0.5 CMC (critical micelle concentration) to keep the surfactant molecules behave as two-dimensional gases. A sequence of pictures shows that the shock is distorted non-symmetrically as it passes through the spiral vortex flow field and the vortex structure is compressed in the direction normal to the shock. These flow features observed in soap films are qualitatively similar to their counterparts in gases. In addition, the visualization of the interactions of a quasi-one-dimensional moving shock wave with a Karman vortex street are presented.