On interaction of shock waves with weak discontinuities

Abstract

This paper deals with the wave interaction problem, taking into account the jump in shock acceleration as a consequence of its interaction with a weak wave. The existence and uniqueness of the reflection and transmission coefficients is discussed. As an illustration, the flow properties of self—similar solutions for plane and radially symmetric flows are examined. The exact selfsimilar solution and the results of interaction theory are used to study the interaction between a weak discontinuity wave and a blast wave in plane and radially symmetric flows.

Keywords:

• Flows
• self-similar solutions
• shock interaction