Shock wave deformation in shock-vortex interactions

Abstract. An initially planar shock wave can undergo significant distortion to its shape along with changes in its strength during the period of its interaction with a compressible vortex. This phenomenon is studied by numerically simulating the shock wave-vortex interaction with a high resolution shock-capturing scheme. Incident shock waves of various Mach numbers are made to interact with a compressible vortex and the dependence of the shock wave distortion on the strength of the incident shock wave is studied in detail. It is known that the type of complex shock structure formed in the later stages of a compressible vortex-shock wave interaction is dependent on the Mach number of the incident shock wave. A simple physical model based on the principle of shock wave reflection is proposed to explain this complex shock structure formation and its dependence on the relative strengths of the interacting vortex and shock wave.