Vorticity produced by shock wave diffraction

Abstract

Numerical simulations with a monotonicity preserving flow solver have been performed to study shock diffraction phenomena and shock wave generated vorticity. The computations were performed using the conservative Finite Element Method-Flux Corrected Transport (FEM-FCT) scheme, which has been shown to have an excellent predictive capability for various compressible flows with both strong and weak shocks. An adaptive unstructured methodology based on adapting to high density and entropy gradients was used in conjunction with a conservative shock-capturing scheme to adequately resolve strong and weak flowfield gradients. The chief interest was the formation of vorticity arising from shock wave propagation over a sharp corner and the high accuracy and resolution of the interacting compressible wave features. Numerical simulations were compared with previous experimental results and exhibited remarkably good agreement in terms of compressible wave propagation, as well as vorticity development and transport. The computations also allowed insight into the fundamental fluid dynamics, specifically shock diffraction, vortex convection and shock-vortex interactions.

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