Regular reflection to Mach reflection(RR-MR) transition in Short wedges

Abstract

Regular reflection (RR) to Mach reflection(MR) transitions (RR-MR) on long wedges in steady supersonic flows have been well studied and documented. However, in a short wedge where the wedge length is small, the transition prediction becomes really challenging owing to the interaction of the expansion fan emanating from the trailing edge of the wedge with the incident shock and the triple/reflection point. The extent of this interaction depends on the distance between the wedge trailing edge and the symmetry line (Ht). This distance is a geometric combination of the distance of the wedge leading edge from the symmetry line (H), the wedge angle, and the wedge length (w). In the present work, the RR-MR transitions have been studied using analytical and computational methods, and the transition lines are plotted for various Mach numbers and wedge lengths. The transition criterion strongly depends on the wedge length, which can be so adjusted to eliminate the RR-MR transitions till the wedge angle reaches the no-reflection domain.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure