High-order WENO simulations of three-dimensional reshocked Richtmyer-Meshkov instability to late times: Dynamics, dependence on initial conditions, and comparisons to experimental data

Abstract

The dynamics of the reshocked multi-mode Richtmyer–Meshkov instability is investigated using 513 × 257^2 three-dimensional ninth-order weighted essentially nonoscillatory shock-capturing simulations. A two-mode initial perturbation with superposed random noise is used to model the Mach 1.5 air/SF_6 Vetter–Sturtevant shock tube experiment. The mass fraction and enstrophy isosurfaces, and density cross-sections are utilized to show the detailed flow structure before, during, and after reshock. It is shown that the mixing layer growth agrees well with the experimentally measured growth rate before and after reshock. The post-reshock growth rate is also in good agreement with the prediction of the Mikaelian model. A parametric study of the sensitivity of the layer growth to the choice of amplitudes of the short and long wavelength initial interfacial perturbation is also presented. Finally, the amplification effects of reshock are quantified using the evolution of the turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent enstrophy spectra, as well as the evolution of the baroclinic enstrophy production, buoyancy production, and shear production terms in the enstrophy and turbulent kinetic transport equations.

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