Multistage interaction of a shock wave and a strong vortex

The interaction between a shock wave and a strong vortex is simulated systematically through solving the two-dimensional, unsteady compressible Navier–Stokes equations using a fifth-order weighted essentially nonoscillatory finite difference scheme. Our main purpose in this study is to characterize the flow structure and the generation of sound waves of the shock–strong vortex interaction. The simulations show that the interaction of a shock wave and a strong vortex has a multistage feature. It contains the interaction of the shock wave and the initial vortex, of the reflected shock wave and the deformed vortex and of the shocklets and the deformed vortex. The shocklets are generated by the secondary interaction. Due to the complex reflected shock structure, there exist interactions between the reflected shock waves and the sound waves. Many pressure waves are embedded in the second and third sound waves. © 2005 American Institute of Physics. DOI: 10.1063/1.2084233