Nonlinear strong shock interactions: A shock-fitted approach (Q1268455)

This paper addresses nonlinear effects which result from the interaction of shock waves with vortices. A series of experiments are carried out, which involve the interaction of a strong shock wave with a single plane vorticity wave and a randomly distributed wave system. These experiments are first conducted in the linear regime to obtain a mutual verification of theory and computation. They are subsequently extended into the nonlinear regime. A systematic study of the interaction of a plane shock wave and a single vortex is then conducted. Specifically, we investigate the conditions under which nonlinear effects become important, both as a function of shock Mach number, \(M_1\), and incident vortex strength (characterized by its circulation \(\Gamma\)).