Modulation of spherical shock waves induced by interaction with surrounding turbulence

What is it about?

When an explosion occurs in nature or in engineering equipment, a spherical shock wave is generated in the surrounding area. A shock wave is a wave in which the pressure changes discontinuously. If the flow field in which this spherical shock wave propagates is a turbulent flow, interaction occurs. In this study, it was found that the originally spherical shock wave was deformed by this interaction. Furthermore, it was found that the deformation increases as the propagation distance increases. This deformation is also related to the strength of the shock wave, which is weaker at protruding points and stronger at concave points.

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Photo by Jeff Kingma on Unsplash

Photo by Jeff Kingma on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Shock waves associated with explosion phenomena can cause not only damage to engineering equipment, but also, depending on the scale of the explosion, may cause destructive damage. If the damage caused by such shock waves can be predicted, safety can be improved. Shock waves generated in the real world are almost always curved, not flat. The characterization of the propagation of curved shock waves in a turbulent flow field will contribute to the understanding of natural phenomena in engineering and science.