The Ultimate Pattern of Shock-Vortex Interaction

As a shock impinges into a vortex of variable strength, complex shock diffraction can occur. Since a vortex has a fixed rotating direction, the shock wave travelling in one direction creates strong asymmetry in the vortex flow field. The process is that first the shock is divided into two parts by the vortex. One part is moving in the adverse direction opposite to the vortex flow which is captured by the vortex center. The other part is moving in the favorable direction, namely, in the direction same as the vortex flow; it is swung around the vortex, accelerating the vortex flow. In this paper we have investigated numerically using ENO scheme how and why the shock-vortex interaction patterns appear so different for different parametric values. Conclusion is that there are three different types of shock-vortex interaction depending on two related parameters: shock Mach number and vortex Mach number. We present a parameter map by which we can discern what type of interaction pattern appears as a shock impinges into a vortex.