The reflection and refraction of a curved shock front sliding over an air–water interface

The present study aims to investigate the reflection and refraction of a curved shock front as it slides along an air–water interface, using the time-resolved shadowgraph technique. The curved shock front is generated from a free-piston shock tube. The study successfully captured the propagation of a refracted shock wave in water along with that of the reflected shock wave in the air. The refracted shock moves much faster than the incident shock due to a higher acoustic speed in the water. It is seen that the reflected shock initially exhibits a regular reflection (RR), which then transitions to a Mach reflection (MR) as it propagates along the interface. As the shock wave propagates along the air–water interface, the incident shock wave angle with the interface keeps on increasing, leading to RR–MR transition. Shock polar analysis shows that as the Mach reflection structure propagates further along the interface, it transitions from a standard Mach reflection to a non-standard Mach reflection. It is seen that the distance the shock wave propagates along the interface before it transitions from RR to MR increases with the increase in the interface distance (distance between the water surface and the shock tube axis). It is also found that the reflection surface (water or solid) does not seem to have a significant effect on the shock transition criterion, especially the distance at which the shock wave transitions from RR to MR.