The vortex ring generated subsequent to the diffraction of a shock wave from the open end of a shock tube is studied using particle image velocimetry. We examine the early evolution of the compressible vortex ring for three-exit shock Mach numbers, 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3. For the three cases studied, the ring formation is complete at about tUb/D=2, where t is time, Ub is fluid velocity behind shock as it exits the tube and D is tube diameter. Unlike in the case of piston generated incompressible vortex rings where the piston velocity variation with time is usually trapezoidal, in the shock-generated vortex ring case the exit fluid velocity doubles from its initial value Ub before it slowly decays to zero. At the end of the ring formation, its translation speed is observed to be about 0.7 Ub. During initial formation and propagation, a jet-like flow exists behind the vortex ring. The vortex ring detachment from the tailing jet, commonly referred to as pinch-off, is briefly discussed.

Vortex ring formation at the open end of a shock tube: A particle image velocimetry study

An experimental study has been conducted to examine compressible vortex ring structure and propagation, and the interaction of vortex ring with generic-body configurations. The experiments used a circular 30mm internal diameter and 38mm outer diameter shock-tube. The driver and driven gas was air. A vortex ring was generated by the impulse of the shock wave emerging from the open end of the shock-tube. High-speed schlieren photography was employed. Both side view and 45˚ oblique photographs were taken. The interactions with generic shape objects, which were a circular cone, a sphere, a cube and a plane-wall, were studied. Three different driver pressures of 12, 8, and 4 bars were tested with driven gas at 1 bar; the shock wave Mach number inside the tube was 1.63, 1.52 and 1.25 respectively.

Compressible Vortex-Ring Interaction Studies with a Number of Generic Body Configurations

An experimental study has been conducted to examine the interaction of shock wave induced vortices with a flat plate and a perforated plate. The experiments were carried out using a 30mm internal diameter shock-tube at Mach numbers 1.31, 1.49, and 1.61 under critical driver conditions. Air was used both in the driver and driven sections. High-speed schlieren photography was employed to study the flow development and the resulting interactions with the plates. Wall pressure measurements on both plates were also carried out in order to study the flow interactions quantitatively. The experimental results indicated that a region of strong flow development is generated near the wall surface, due to the flow interactions of reflected waves and oncoming induced vortices. This flow behavior causes the generation of multiple pressure fluctuations on the wall. In the case of the perforated plate, a weaker initial reflected wave is produced, which is followed by compression waves, due to the internal reflections wit...

Head-on collision of shock wave induced vortices with solid and perforated walls

Formation and evolution of a compressible vortex ring generated at the open end of a short driver section shock tube has been simulated numerically for pressure ratios (PR) of 3 and 7 in the present study. Numerical study of compressible vortex rings is essential to understand the complicated flow structure and acoustic characteristics of many high Mach number impulsive jets where simultaneously velocity, density and pressure fields are needed. The flow development, incident shock formation, shock diffraction, vortex ring formation and its evolution are simulated using the AUSM+ scheme. The main focus of the present study is to evaluate the time resolved vorticity field of the vortex ring and the shock/expansion waves in the starting jet for short driver section shock tubes—a scenario where little data are available in existing literature. An embedded shock and a vortex induced shock are observed for PR =  7. However the vortex ring remains shock free, compact and unaffected by the trailing jet for PR =  3. Numerical shadowgraph shows the evolution of embedded shock and shock/expansion waves along with their interactions. The velocity and vorticity fields obtained from simulation are validated with the particle image velocimetry results and these data match closely. The translational velocity of the vortex ring, velocity across the vortex and the centre line velocity of the jet obtained from simulation also agree well with the experimental results.

Numerical simulation and PIV study of compressible vortex ring evolution

Counter-rotating vortex rings (CRVRs) are observed to form ahead of a primary compressible vortex ring that is generated at the open end of a shock tube at sufficiently high Mach numbers. In most of the earlier studies, the embedded shock strength has been asserted as the cause for the formation of CRVRs. In the present study, particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements and high-order numerical simulations show that CRVRs do not form in the absence of a Mach disk in the sonic under-expanded jet behind the primary vortex ring. Kelvin–Helmholtz-type shear flow instability of the slipstream originating from the triple point of the Mach disk and subsequent eddy pairing, as observed by Rikanati et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 96, 2006, art. 174503) in shock-wave Mach reflection, is found to be responsible for CRVR formation. The growth rate of the slipstream in the present problem follows the model proposed by them. The parameters influencing the formation of CRVRs as well as their dynamics is investigated. It is found that the strength of the Mach disk and its duration of persistence results in an exit impulse that determines the number of CRVRs formed.

C. Hébert

Papers

Propagation and interaction of shock-generated vortices