A study on dynamics of shock-accelerated forward-facing triangular bubbles at different Atwood numbers

Abstract

The complexity of flow physics and the associated hydrodynamic instability arising out of interactions of a shock wave with forward and backward-facing triangular interfaces drew the attention of researchers around the globe. In earlier studies, many researchers focused on the formation of different wave patterns, the development of instabilities at the interface, and the flow morphology during the initial phase of shock wave interacting with light and heavier bubbles. However, limited studies are available in the literature on the interaction of shock with a polygonal interface. Furthermore, it is difficult to capture the complex flow physics of a polygonal interface accelerated by shock waves at later time instants. In the present study, the dynamics of shock-accelerated forward-facing triangular interface containing various gases, namely, sulfur hexafluoride, refrigerant-22, argon, neon, and helium, are examined numerically for a longer time duration for a shock Mach number of 1.21. The simulations were performed by solving two-dimensional Euler equations using a low-dissipative advection upstream splitting method algorithm coupled with a derived ninth-order upwind scheme and a four-stage third-order Runge–Kutta scheme. The numerical results demonstrated the influence of the Atwood number on vorticity generation, bubble deformation, mixing, and the development of Kelvin Helmholtz instabilities on the bubble interface up to long instants, which are not available in the literature. The Fourier spectra of the streamwise kinetic energy showed the distribution of energy in the larger and smaller scale vortical structures.