Review of experiments and calculations of the compressible richtmyer-meshkov instability from a single-mode, nonlinear initial perturbation

We review experiments and calculations of the compressible Richtmyer-Meshkov instability from a single-mode, nonlinear initial perturbation. These experiments were performed using the Nova laser. Measurements of the time-evolution of the mixing region were reported previously. We compared the experimental measurements with numerical simulations [1,2]. We found both experiment and simulation to be in good agreement with recent theories for the nonlinear evolution of the instability [3,4]. Experimental results beyond those previously presented provide additional support for the use of two phase flow models to describe the flow in the nonlinear regime. These experiments include measurement of the mixing region at additional times, including times earlier in the evolution of the instability than previously reported. We have also carried out experiments to examine the difference in the evolution of the instability from initial perturbations consisting of circular sawtooth grooves as well as rectilinear sawteeth. Our previous two-dimensional numerical simulations approximated the experimental linear grooves as circular grooves. We reasoned that the difference between the two cases would be small, based on scaling arguments, and limited to a very small region near the centerline. New experimental and numerical results confirm this. Finally, we discuss some additional issues in the derivation of the two-phase flow model used previously in describing the growth of the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability in the nonlinear phase relevant to other work presented at this meeting [5,6]

Shock-hydrodynamics experiments on the Nova laser

We have conducted shock-induced hydrodynamics experiments using the Nova laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The laser provides a high-enthalpy source by depositing its energy (about 22 kJ) in a small gold cavity called a Hohlraum. The Hohlraum serves as a driver section, launching very strong (M {approx} 20) shocks into millimeter-scale cylindrical ``shock tubes.`` The flow is imaged radiographically by an electronic framing camera, using a laser-generated x-ray source. Several topics have been addressed with this configuration, including shock-induced mixing at density interfaces (seeded with a variety of perturbations); the development of high-speed, shaped-charge-like jets; the effects of geometry on the planarity of the generated shocks; and shock-shock interactions which develop in the flows. This paper describes the general configuration of our experiments, presents an overview of the high-speed jet work, discusses some of our findings, and compares our results with computer simulations

Experimental investigation of the compressible Richtmyer-Meshkov instability from a broad-spectrum, multimode initial perturbation

Experiments have been conducted using the Nova laser system to investigate the growth of the Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instability resuling from a strong shock wave (M{approximately}30) crossing a prescribed well-defined initial multimode perturbation. The perturbation was a 100 mode superposition of 1 {micro}m amplitude sine waves with randomly generated phases between 0 and 2{pi}. The two working fluids were fluidized brominated plastic and carbon resorcinol foam, giving a post-shock Atwood number of approximately 0.6. The present experimental results give a power-law coefficient of 0.87 {+-} 0.2 for the growth of the interface. This value is higher than results previously published

An Experimental Study of the Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability, Including Amplitude and Wavelength V'ations An experimental study of the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability, including amplitude and wavelength variations

Abstract: We report on results of an experimental study of the Rlchtmyer-Meshkov instability. The growth of the mixing region in the nonlinear regime is measured for a set of cases in which the amplitude and wavelength of the initial perturbation are varied systematically. The experiments are conducted on the Nova laser facility, and use a Nova hohlraum as a driver source to launch a high-Mach-number shock into a miniature shock tube attached to the hohlraum. The shock tube contains brominated plastic and low-density carbon foam as the two working fluids, with a micr~machined, triangular sawtooth interface between them serving as the initial perturbation. The sawtooth perturbation waveform is dominated by a single mode, and the perturbation amplitudes are chosen to expedite transition into the nonlinear phase of the instability. The shock, upon crossing the perturbation at the interface, instigates the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability. The resulting growth of the mixing region is diagnosed radiographically. Quantitative measurements of the temporal growth of the width of the mixing region are made for six different combinations of amplitude and wavelength, building upon prṽ ious results which employed a single amplitude/wavelength combination ]. Data from both experiment and supporting simulations suggest that the nonlinear growth of the mix width admits a logarithmic time dependence. The results also suggest that, properly normalized, the tot al mixing width grows in a nearly self-similar fashion, with a weak shape dependence

An experimental study of the richtmyer-meshkov instability, including amplitude and wave length variations

We report on results of an experimental study of the Richtmyer- Meshkov instability. The growth of the mixing region in the nonlinear regime is measured for a set of cases in which the amplitude and wavelength of the initial perturbation are varied systematically. The experiments are conducted on the Nova laser facility, and use a Nova hohlraum as a driver source to launch a high-Mach number shock into a miniature shock tube attached to the hohlraum. The shock tube contains brominated plastic and low density carbon foam as the two working fluids, with a micro-machined, triangular sawtooth interface between them serving as the initial perturbation. The sawtooth perturbation waveform is dominated by a single mode, and the perturbation amplitudes are chosen to expedite transition into the nonlinear phase of the instability. The shock, upon crossing the perturbation at the interface, instigates the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability. The resulting growth of the mixing region is diagnosed radiographically. Quantitative measurements of the temporal growth of the width of the mixing region are made for six different combinations of amplitude and wavelength, building upon previous results which employed a single amplitude/wavelength combination. Data from both experimental and supporting simulations suggest that the nonlinear growth of the mix width admits a logarithmic time dependence. The results also suggest that, properly normalized, the total mixing width grows in a nearly self-similar fashion, with a weak shape dependence