Showing papers on "Shock wave published in 2015"

Three-dimensional simulations of core-collapse supernovae: from shock revival to shock breakout

Abstract: We present three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the evolution of core-collapse supernovae (SN) from blast-wave initiation by the neutrino-driven mechanism to shock breakout from the stellar surface, using an axis-free Yin-Yang grid and considering two 15 M ⊙ red supergiants (RSG) and two blue supergiants (BSG) of 15 M ⊙ and 20 M ⊙ . We demonstrate that the metal-rich ejecta in homologous expansion still carry fingerprints of asymmetries at the beginning of the explosion, but the final metal distribution is massively affected by the detailed progenitor structure. The most extended and fastest metal fingers and clumps are correlated with the biggest and fastest-rising plumes of neutrino-heated matter, because these plumes most effectively seed the growth of Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instabilities at the C+O/He and He/H composition-shell interfaces after the passage of the SN shock. The extent of radial mixing, global asymmetry of the metal-rich ejecta, RT-induced fragmentation of initial plumes to smaller-scale fingers, and maximum Ni and minimum H velocities depend not only on the initial asphericity and explosion energy (which determine the shock and initial Ni velocities), but also on the density profiles and widths of C+O core and He shell and on the density gradient at the He/H transition, which leads to unsteady shock propagation and the formation of reverse shocks. Both RSG explosions retain a large global metal asymmetry with pronounced clumpiness and substructure, deep penetration of Ni fingers into the H-envelope (with maximum velocities of 4000–5000 km s-1 for an explosion energy around 1.5 bethe) and efficient inward H-mixing. While the 15 M ⊙ BSG shares these properties (maximum Ni speeds up to ~3500 km s-1 ), the 20 M ⊙ BSG develops a much more roundish geometry without pronounced metal fingers (maximum Ni velocities only ~2200 km s-1 ) because of reverse-shock deceleration and insufficient time for strong RT growth and fragmentation at the He/H interface.

Diffusive shock acceleration and reconnection acceleration processes

Abstract: Shock waves, as shown by simulations and observations, can generate high levels of downstream vortical turbulence, including magnetic islands. We consider a combination of diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) and downstream magnetic-island-reconnection-related processes as an energization mechanism for charged particles. Observations of electron and ion distributions downstream of interplanetary shocks and the heliospheric termination shock (HTS) are frequently inconsistent with the predictions of classical DSA. We utilize a recently developed transport theory for charged particles propagating diffusively in a turbulent region filled with contracting and reconnecting plasmoids and small-scale current sheets. Particle energization associated with the anti-reconnection electric field, a consequence of magnetic island merging, and magnetic island contraction, are considered. For the former only, we find that (i) the spectrum is a hard power law in particle speed, and (ii) the downstream solution is constant. For downstream plasmoid contraction only, (i) the accelerated spectrum is a hard power law in particle speed; (ii) the particle intensity for a given energy peaks downstream of the shock, and the distance to the peak location increases with increasing particle energy, and (iii) the particle intensity amplification for a particular particle energy, f(x,c/c_0)/f(0,c/c_0), is not 1, as predicted by DSA, but increases with increasing particle energy. The general solution combines both the reconnection-induced electric field and plasmoid contraction. The observed energetic particle intensity profile observed by Voyager 2 downstream of the HTS appears to support a particle acceleration mechanism that combines both DSA and magnetic-island-reconnection-related processes.

Direct numerical simulation of shear localization and decomposition reactions in shock-loaded HMX crystal

Abstract: A numerical model is developed to study the shock wave ignition of octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) crystal. The model accounts for the coupling between crystal thermal/mechanical responses and chemical reactions that are driven by the temperature field. This allows for the direct numerical simulation of decomposition reactions in the hot spots formed by mechanical loading. The model is used to simulate intragranular pore collapse under shock wave loading. In a reference case: (i) shear-enabled micro-jetting is responsible for a modest extent of reaction in the pore collapse region, and (ii) shear banding is found to be an important mode of localization. The shear bands, which are filled with molten HMX, grow out of the pore collapse region and serve as potential ignition sites. The model predictions of shear banding and reactivity are found to be quite sensitive to the respective flow strengths of the solid and liquid phases. In this regard, it is shown that reasonable assumptions of liquid-HMX viscosity can lead to chemical reactions within the shear bands on a nanosecond time scale.

Stochastic electron acceleration during spontaneous turbulent reconnection in a strong shock wave

Abstract: Explosive phenomena such as supernova remnant shocks and solar flares have demonstrated evidence for the production of relativistic particles. Interest has therefore been renewed in collisionless shock waves and magnetic reconnection as a means to achieve such energies. Although ions can be energized during such phenomena, the relativistic energy of the electrons remains a puzzle for theory. We present supercomputer simulations showing that efficient electron energization can occur during turbulent magnetic reconnection arising from a strong collisionless shock. Upstream electrons undergo first-order Fermi acceleration by colliding with reconnection jets and magnetic islands, giving rise to a nonthermal relativistic population downstream. These results shed new light on magnetic reconnection as an agent of energy dissipation and particle acceleration in strong shock waves.

Numerical experiments on reaction front propagation in n-heptane/air mixture with temperature gradient

Abstract: Usually different autoignition modes can be generated by a hot spot in which ignition occurs earlier than that in the surrounding mixture. However, for large hydrocarbon fuels with negative temperature coefficient (NTC) behavior, ignition happens earlier at lower temperature than that at higher temperature when the temperature is within the NTC regime. Consequently, a cool spot may also result in different autoignition modes. In this study, the modes of reaction front propagation caused by temperature gradient in a one dimensional planar configuration are investigated numerically for n -heptane/air mixture at initial temperature within and below the NTC regime. For the first time, different supersonic autoignition modes caused by a cool spot with positive temperature gradient are identified. It is found that the initial temperature gradient has strong impact on autoignition modes. With the increase of the positive temperature gradient of the cool spot, supersonic autoignitive deflagration, detonation, shock-detonation, and shock-deflagration are sequentially observed. It is found that shock compression of the mixture between the deflagration wave and leading shock wave produces an additional ignition kernel, which determines the autoignition modes. Furthermore, the cool spot is compared with the hot spot with temperature below the NTC regime. Similar autoignition modes are observed for the hot and cool spots. Different autoignition modes in the considered simplified configuration are summarized in terms of the normalized temperature gradient and acoustic-to-excitation time scale ratio. It is shown that the transition between different autoignition modes is not greatly affected by the NTC behavior. Therefore, our 1-D simulation indicates that like hot spot, the cool spot may also generate knock in engines when fuels with NTC behavior is used and the temperature is within the NTC regime.

Stability, Receptivity, and Sensitivity Analyses of Buffeting Transonic Flow over a Profile

Abstract: A transonic flow over the OAT15A supercritical profile is considered. The interaction between the shock wave and the turbulent boundary layer is investigated through numerical simulation and global stability analysis for a wide range of angles of attack. Numerical simulations are in good agreement with previous studies and manage to reproduce the high-amplitude self-sustained shock oscillations known as shock buffet. In agreement with previous results, it is found that the buffet phenomenon is driven by an unstable global mode of the linearized Navier–Stokes equations. Analysis of the adjoint global mode reveals that the flow is most receptive to harmonic forcings on the suction side of the profile, within the boundary layer upstream of the shock foot, in the recirculation bubble downstream of the shock foot, and on the right characteristic that impinges the shock foot. An eigenvalue sensitivity analysis shows that a steady streamwise force applied either in the boundary layer or in the recirculation regi...

Numerical study of oblique shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction considering sidewall effects

Abstract: Large-eddy simulations are conducted to uncover physical aspects of sidewall-induced three-dimensionality for a moderately separated oblique shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction (SWBLI) at M=2.7. Simulations are run for three different aspect ratios of the interaction zone. The swept SWBLI on the sidewalls and the corner flow behaviour are investigated, along with the main oblique SWBLI on the bottom wall. As the aspect ratio decreases to unity, the separation and reattachment points on the central plane are observed to move upstream simultaneously, while the bubble length initially increases and then stabilizes to a length 30 % larger than for the infinite-span quasi-two-dimensional case. A distorted incident shock and a three-dimensional (3D) bottom-wall separation pattern are observed, with a patch of attached flow between the central and corner separations. The 3D flow structure is found to be induced by the swept SWBLI formed on the sidewalls. The location of the termination point of the incident shock near the sidewall is limited by a sweepback effect, allowing the definition of a penetration Mach number Mp that is shown to correlate well with the spanwise extent of the core flow. The structure and strength of the incident shock are modified significantly by the swept SWBLI on the sidewalls, along with a compression wave upstream and a secondary sidewall shock downstream, leading to a highly 3D pressure field in the main flow above the main SWBLI on the bottom wall. The reflection of the swept SWBLI from the bottom wall leads to a corner compression wave and strong transverse flow close to the bottom wall. A physical model based on the quasi-conical structure of the swept SWBLI on the sidewall is proposed to estimate the 3D SWBLI pattern on the bottom wall, in which the swept SWBLI features and the aspect ratio of the interaction zone are considered to be the critical factors

Three-dimensional simulations of SASI- and convection-dominated core-collapse supernovae

Abstract: We investigate the effect of dimensionality on the transition to explosion in neutrino-driven core-collapse supernovae. Using parameterized hydrodynamic simulations of the stalled supernova shock in one-, two- (2D), and three spatial dimensions (3D), we systematically probe the extent to which hydrodynamic instabilities alone can tip the balance in favor of explosion. In particular, we focus on systems that are well into the regimes where the Standing Accretion Shock Instability (SASI) or neutrino-driven convection dominate the dynamics, and characterize the difference between them. We find that SASI-dominated models can explode with up to ~20% lower neutrino luminosity in 3D than in 2D, with the magnitude of this difference decreasing with increasing resolution. This improvement in explosion conditions is related to the ability of spiral modes to generate more non-radial kinetic energy than a single sloshing mode, increasing the size of the average shock radius, and hence generating better conditions for the formation of large-scale, high-entropy bubbles. In contrast, convection-dominated explosions show a smaller difference in their critical heating rate between 2D and 3D (<8%), in agreement with previous studies. The ability of our numerical implementation to maintain arbitrary symmetries is quantified with a set of SASI-based tests. We discuss implications for the diversity of explosion paths in a realistic supernova environment.

Bubbles with shock waves and ultrasound: a review

Abstract: The study of the interaction of bubbles with shock waves and ultrasound is sometimes termed 'acoustic cavitation'. It is of importance in many biomedical applications where sound waves are applied. The use of shock waves and ultrasound in medical treatments is appealing because of their non-invasiveness. In this review, we present a variety of acoustics-bubble interactions, with a focus on shock wave-bubble interaction and bubble cloud phenomena. The dynamics of a single spherically oscillating bubble is rather well understood. However, when there is a nearby surface, the bubble often collapses non-spherically with a high-speed jet. The direction of the jet depends on the 'resistance' of the boundary: the bubble jets towards a rigid boundary, splits up near an elastic boundary, and jets away from a free surface. The presence of a shock wave complicates the bubble dynamics further. We shall discuss both experimental studies using high-speed photography and numerical simulations involving shock wave-bubble interaction. In biomedical applications, instead of a single bubble, often clouds of bubbles appear (consisting of many individual bubbles). The dynamics of such a bubble cloud is even more complex. We shall show some of the phenomena observed in a high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) field. The nonlinear nature of the sound field and the complex inter-bubble interaction in a cloud present challenges to a comprehensive understanding of the physics of the bubble cloud in HIFU. We conclude the article with some comments on the challenges ahead.

Collisionless shocks in space plasmas : structure and accelerated particles

Abstract: Shock waves are an important feature of solar system plasmas, from the solar corona out to the edge of the heliosphere. This engaging introduction to collisionless shocks in space plasmas presents a comprehensive review of the physics governing different types of shocks and processes of particle acceleration, from fundamental principles to current research. Motivated by observations of planetary bow shocks, interplanetary shocks and the solar wind termination shock, it emphasises the physical theory underlying these shock waves. Readers will develop an understanding of the complex interplay between particle dynamics and the electric and magnetic fields that explains the observations of in situ spacecraft. Written by renowned experts in the field, this up-to-date text is the ideal companion for both graduate students new to heliospheric physics and researchers in astrophysics who wish to apply the lessons of solar system shocks to different astrophysical environments.

Imaging shock waves in diamond with both high temporal and spatial resolution at an XFEL

Abstract: The advent of hard x-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) has opened up a variety of scientific opportunities in areas as diverse as atomic physics, plasma physics, nonlinear optics in the x-ray range, and protein crystallography. In this article, we access a new field of science by measuring quantitatively the local bulk properties and dynamics of matter under extreme conditions, in this case by using the short XFEL pulse to image an elastic compression wave in diamond. The elastic wave was initiated by an intense optical laser pulse and was imaged at different delay times after the optical pump pulse using magnified x-ray phase-contrast imaging. The temporal evolution of the shock wave can be monitored, yielding detailed information on shock dynamics, such as the shock velocity, the shock front width, and the local compression of the material. The method provides a quantitative perspective on the state of matter in extreme conditions.

Investigation on the effect of strut configurations and locations on the combustion performance of a typical scramjet combustor

Abstract: The Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations coupled with the renormalization group (RNG) k-e and the single-step chemical reaction mechanism have been used to evaluate the influence of the radius of the strut tip, the half-angle of the strut and the strut location relative to the combustor entrance on the combustion performance of the combustor has been discussed. At the same time, the numerical method has been validated by the available experimental shadowgraph, velocity measurements and temperature measurements in the open literature. With the increasing of the radius of the strut tip, the separation region generated due to the strong interaction between the shock wave and the boundary layer becomes broader, and accordingly, a bifurcated shock wave appears at the front of the strut, then a shock wave train. The shock waves generated at the intersectional points between the walls of the strut and the sonic lines play an important role in the generation of the separation zone, and they can improve the combustion efficiency to a certain extent. Further, the mixing process is more intensive than the chemical reaction process in the vicinity of the strut base, and the combustion efficiency increases nearly monotonically with the increasing of the horizontal distance in the range considered in the current study. When the intersectional point between the leading shock wave and the upper wall overlaps with the divergence point, the combustion efficiency at the exit of the combustor becomes the largest, and its value is nearly 96.2%.

Precursors to interstellar shocks of solar origin

Abstract: On or about 2012 August 25, the Voyager 1 spacecraft crossed the heliopause into the nearby interstellar plasma. In the nearly three years that the spacecraft has been in interstellar space, three notable particle and field disturbances have been observed, each apparently associated with a shock wave propagating outward from the Sun. Here, we present a detailed analysis of the third and most impressive of these disturbances, with brief comparisons to the two previous events, both of which have been previously reported. The shock responsible for the third event was first detected on 2014 February 17 by the onset of narrowband radio emissions from the approaching shock, followed on 2014 May 13 by the abrupt appearance of intense electron plasma oscillations generated by electrons streaming outward ahead of the shock. Finally, the shock arrived on 2014 August 25, as indicated by a jump in the magnetic field strength and the plasma density. Various disturbances in the intensity and anisotropy of galactic cosmic rays were also observed ahead of the shock, some of which are believed to be caused by the reflection and acceleration of cosmic rays by the magnetic field jump at the shock, and/or by interactions with upstream plasma waves. Comparisons to the two previous weaker events show somewhat similar precursor effects, although differing in certain details. Many of these effects are very similar to those observed in the region called the "foreshock" that occurs upstream of planetary bow shocks, only on a vastly larger spatial scale.

What Are the Sources of Solar Energetic Particles? Element Abundances and Source Plasma Temperatures

Abstract: We have spent 50 years in heated discussion over which populations of solar energetic particles (SEPs) are accelerated at flares and which by shock waves driven out from the Sun by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The association of the large “gradual” SEP events with shock acceleration is supported by the extensive spatial distribution of SEPs and by the delayed acceleration of the particles. Recent STEREO observations have begun to show that the particle onset times correspond to the observed time of arrival of the shock on the observer’s magnetic flux tube and that the SEP intensities are related to the local shock speed. The relative abundances of the elements in these gradual events are a measure of those in the ambient solar corona, differing from those in the photosphere by a widely-observed function of the first ionization potential (FIP) of the elements. SEP events we call “impulsive”, the traditional “3He-rich” events with enhanced heavy-element abundances, are associated with type III radio bursts, flares, and narrow CMEs; they selectively populate flux tubes that thread a localized source, and they are fit to new particle-in-cell models of magnetic reconnection on open field lines as found in solar jets. These models help explain the strong enhancements seen in heavy elements as a power (of 2–8) in the mass-to-charge ratio $A/Q$ throughout the periodic table from He to Pb. A study of the temperature dependence of $A/Q$ shows that the source plasma in impulsive SEP events must lie in the range of 2–4 MK to explain the pattern of abundances. This is much lower than the temperatures of >10 MK seen on closed loops in solar flares. Recent studies of $A/Q$ -dependent enhancements or suppressions from scattering during transport show source plasma temperatures in gradual SEP events to be 0.8–1.6 MK in 69 % of the events, i.e. coronal plasma; 24 % of the events show reaccelerated impulsive-event material.

Electron and proton acceleration efficiency by merger shocks in galaxy clusters

Abstract: Radio relics in galaxy clusters are associated with powerful shocks that (re) accelerate relativistic electrons. It is widely believed that the acceleration proceeds via diffusive shock acceleration. In the framework of thermal leakage, the ratio of the energy in relativistic electrons to the energy in relativistic protons should be smaller than K-e/p similar to 10(-2). The relativistic protons interact with the thermal gas to produce gamma-rays in hadronic interactions. Combining observations of radio relics with upper limits from gamma-ray observatories can constrain the ratio K-e/p. In this work, we selected 10 galaxy clusters that contain double radio relics, and derive new upper limits from the stacking of gamma-ray observations by Fermi. We modelled the propagation of shocks using a semi-analytical model, where we assumed a simple geometry for shocks and that cosmic ray protons are trapped in the intracluster medium. Our analysis shows that diffusive shock acceleration has difficulties in matching simultaneously the observed radio emission and the constraints imposed by Fermi, unless the magnetic field in relics is unrealistically large (>> 10 mu G). In all investigated cases (also including realistic variations of our basic model and the effect of re-acceleration), the mean emission of the sample is of the order of the stacking limit by Fermi, or larger. These findings put tension on the commonly adopted model for the powering of radio relics, and imply that the relative acceleration efficiency of electrons and protons is at odds with predictions of diffusive shock acceleration, requiring K-e/p >= 10 - 10(-2).

Shock finding on a moving-mesh: I. Shock statistics in non-radiative cosmological simulations

Abstract: Cosmological shock waves play an important role in hierarchical structure formation by dissipating and thermalizing kinetic energy of gas flows, thereby heating the universe. Furthermore, identifying shocks in hydrodynamical simulations and measuring their Mach number accurately is critical for calculating the production of non-thermal particle components through diffusive shock acceleration. However, shocks are often significantly broadened in numerical simulations, making it challenging to implement an accurate shock finder. We here introduce a refined methodology for detecting shocks in the moving-mesh code AREPO, and show that results for shock statistics can be sensitive to implementation details. We put special emphasis on filtering against spurious shock detections due to tangential discontinuities and contacts. Both of them are omnipresent in cosmological simulations, for example in the form of shear-induced Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities and cold fronts. As an initial application of our new implementation, we analyse shock statistics in non-radiative cosmological simulations of dark matter and baryons. We find that the bulk of energy dissipation at redshift zero occurs in shocks with Mach numbers around ${\cal M}\approx2.7$. Furthermore, almost $40\%$ of the thermalization is contributed by shocks in the warm hot intergalactic medium (WHIM), whereas $\approx60\%$ occurs in clusters, groups and smaller halos. Compared to previous studies, these findings revise the characterization of the most important shocks towards higher Mach numbers and lower density structures. Our results also suggest that regions with densities above and below $\delta_b=100$ should be roughly equally important for the energetics of cosmic ray acceleration through large-scale structure shocks.

Shock wave formation in the collapse of a vapor nanobubble.

Abstract: In this Letter, the dynamics of a collapsing vapor bubble is addressed by means of a diffuse-interface formulation The model cleanly captures, through a unified approach, all the critical features of the process, such as phase change, transition to supercritical conditions, thermal conduction, compressibility effects, and shock wave formation and propagation Rather unexpectedly for pure vapor bubbles, the numerical experiments show that the process consists in the oscillation of the bubble associated with the emission of shock waves in the liquid, and with the periodic disappearance and reappearance of the liquid-vapor interface due to transition to super- or subcritical conditions The results identify the mechanism of shock wave formation as strongly related to the transition of the vapor to the supercritical state, with a progressive steepening of a focused compression wave evolving into a shock which is eventually reflected as an outward propagating wave in the liquid

On shock driven jetting of liquid from non-sinusoidal surfaces into a vacuum

Abstract: Previous work employed Richtmyer-Meshkov theory to describe the development of spikes and bubbles from shocked sinusoidal surfaces. Here, we discuss the effects of machining different two-dimensional shaped grooves in copper and examine the resulting flow of the material after being shocked into liquid on release. For these simulations, a high performance molecular dynamics code, SPaSM, was used with machined grooves of kh0 = 1 and kh0 = 1/8, where 2h0 is the peak-to-valley height of the perturbation with wavelength λ, and k = 2π/λ. The surface morphologies studied include a Chevron, a Fly-Cut, a Square-Wave, and a Gaussian. We describe extensions to an existing ejecta source model that better captures the mass ejected from these surfaces. We also investigate the same profiles at length scales of order 1 cm for an idealized fluid equation of state using the FLASH continuum hydrodynamics code. Our findings indicate that the resulting mass can be scaled by the missing area of a sinusoidal curve with an effe...

Interpreting observations of molecular outflow sources: the MHD shock code mhd_vode

Abstract: The planar MHD shock code mhd_vode has been developed in order to simulate both continuous (C) type shock waves and jump (J) type shock waves in the interstellar medium. The physical and chemical state of the gas in steady-state may also be computed and used as input to a shock wave model. The code is written principally in FORTRAN 90, although some routines remain in FORTRAN 77. The documented program and its input data are described and provided as supplementary material, and the results of exemplary test runs are presented. Our intention is to enable the interested user to run the code for any sensible parameter set and to comprehend the results. With applications to molecular outflow sources in mind, we have computed, and are making available as supplementary material, integrated atomic and molecular line intensities for grids of C- and J-type models; these computations are summarized in the Appendices.

Modelling cavitation erosion using fluid-material interaction simulations.

Abstract: Material deformation and pitting from cavitation bubble collapse is investigated using fluid and material dynamics and their interaction. In the fluid, a novel hybrid approach, which links a boundary element method and a compressible finite difference method, is used to capture non-spherical bubble dynamics and resulting liquid pressures efficiently and accurately. The bubble dynamics is intimately coupled with a finite-element structure model to enable fluid/structure interaction simulations. Bubble collapse loads the material with high impulsive pressures, which result from shock waves and bubble re-entrant jet direct impact on the material surface. The shock wave loading can be from the re-entrant jet impact on the opposite side of the bubble, the fast primary collapse of the bubble, and/or the collapse of the remaining bubble ring. This produces high stress waves, which propagate inside the material, cause deformation, and eventually failure. A permanent deformation or pit is formed when the local equivalent stresses exceed the material yield stress. The pressure loading depends on bubble dynamics parameters such as the size of the bubble at its maximum volume, the bubble standoff distance from the material wall and the pressure driving the bubble collapse. The effects of standoff and material type on the pressure loading and resulting pit formation are highlighted and the effects of bubble interaction on pressure loading and material deformation are preliminarily discussed.

Unsteadiness in transonic shock-wave/boundary-layer interactions: experimental investigation and global stability analysis

Abstract: A transonic interaction between a shock wave and a turbulent boundary layer is experimentally and theoretically investigated. The configuration is a transonic channel flow over a bump, where a shock wave causes the separation of the boundary layer in the form of a recirculating bubble downstream of the shock foot. Different experimental techniques allow for the identification of the main unsteadiness features. As recognised in similar shock-wave/boundary-layer interactions, the flow field exhibits two distinct characteristic frequencies, whose origins are still controversial: a low-frequency motion which primarily affects the shock wave; and medium-frequency perturbations localised in the shear layer. A Fourier analysis of a series of Schlieren snapshots is performed to precisely characterise the structure of the perturbations at low- and medium-frequencies. Then, the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations closed with a Spalart–Allmaras turbulence model are solved to obtain a mean flow, which favourably compares with the experimental results. A global stability analysis based on the linearization of the full RANS equations is then performed. The eigenvalues of the Jacobian operator are all damped, indicating that the interaction dynamic cannot be explained by the existence of unstable global modes. The input/output behaviour of the flow is then analysed by performing a singular-value decomposition of the Resolvent operator; pseudo-resonances of the flow may be identified and optimal forcings/responses determined as a function of frequency. It is found that the flow strongly amplifies both medium-frequency perturbations, generating fluctuations in the mixing layer, and low-frequency perturbations, affecting the shock wave. The structure of the optimal perturbations and the preferred frequencies agree with the experimental observations.

Attenuation of the dynamic yield point of shocked aluminum using elastodynamic simulations of dislocation dynamics.

Abstract: When a metal is subjected to extremely rapid compression, a shock wave is launched that generates dislocations as it propagates. The shock wave evolves into a characteristic two-wave structure, with an elastic wave preceding a plastic front. It has been known for more than six decades that the amplitude of the elastic wave decays the farther it travels into the metal: this is known as “the decay of the elastic precursor.” The amplitude of the elastic precursor is a dynamic yield point because it marks the transition from elastic to plastic behavior. In this Letter we provide a full explanation of this attenuation using the first method of dislocation dynamics to treat the time dependence of the elastic fields of dislocations explicitly. We show that the decay of the elastic precursor is a result of the interference of the elastic shock wave with elastic waves emanating from dislocations nucleated in the shock front. Our simulations reproduce quantitatively recent experiments on the decay of the elastic precursor in aluminum and its dependence on strain rate.

Mechanism of Membrane Poration by Shock Wave Induced Nanobubble Collapse: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Abstract: We performed coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations in order to understand the mechanism of membrane poration by shock wave induced nanobubble collapse. Pressure profiles obtained from the simulations show that the shock wave initially hits the membrane and is followed by a nanojet produced by the nanobubble collapse. While in the absence of the nanobubble, the shock wave with an impulse of up to 18 mPa s does not create a pore in the membrane, in the presence of a nanobubble even a smaller impulse leads to the poration of the membrane. Two-dimensional pressure maps depicting the pressure distributed over the lateral area of the membrane reveal the differences between these two cases. In the absence of a nanobubble, shock pressure is evenly distributed along the lateral area of the membrane, while in the presence of a nanobubble an unequal distribution of pressure on the membrane is created, leading to the membrane poration. The size of the pore formed depends on both shock wave velocity and shock ...