Turbulent transition of a gaseous mixing zone induced by the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability

Abstract

A new experiment analyses the process driving the fast transition towards turbulence of an impulsively accelerated then decelerated interface between gases of different densities, when the timescale of this transitional process is of the same order as that of the resulting turbulence. This transition to turbulence is revealed as the imprint of the initial condition is lost and the dynamical spectral content covers a wide range of scales compatible with a self-similar trend.