A. Rikanati’s research while affiliated with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and other places

The nonlinear growth of the multimode Rayleigh-Taylor (RT), Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM), and Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instabilities is treated by a similar statistical mechanics merger model, using bubbles as the elementary particle in the RM and RT instabilities and eddies in the KH instability. Two particle interaction is demonstrated and merger rates are calculated. Using a statistical merger model, the mixing front evolution scaling law is derived. For the RT bubble front height a scaling law of αAgt2, with α 0.05, is derived. For the RM bubble front, a power law of t0.4 is obtained for all Atwood numbers. For the KH case the mixing zone grows linearly with time through a mechanism of eddy merger. Good agreement with simulations and experiments is achieved.

Theoretical and experimental research, on the previously unresolved instability occurring along the slip stream of a shock-wave Mach reflection, is presented. Growth rates of the large-scale Kelvin-Helmholtz shear flow instability are used to model the evolution of the slip-stream instability in ideal gas, thus indicating secondary small-scale growth of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability as the cause for the slip-stream thickening. The model is validated through experiments measuring the instability growth rates for a range of Mach numbers and reflection wedge angles. Good agreement is found for Reynolds numbers of Re 2 x 10(4). This work demonstrates, for the first time, the use of large-scale models of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in modeling secondary turbulent mixing in hydrodynamic flows, a methodology which could be further implemented in many important secondary mixing processes.

The late-time nonlinear evolution of the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) and Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instabilities for random initial perturbations is investigated using a statistical mechanics model based on single-mode and bubble-competition physics at all Atwood numbers (A) and full numerical simulations in two and three dimensions. It is shown that the RT mixing zone bubble and spike fronts evolve as h ∼ α · A · gt2 with different values of α for the bubble and spike fronts. The RM mixing zone fronts evolve as h ∼ tθ with different values of θ for bubbles and spikes. Similar analysis yields a linear growth with tune of the Kelvin-Helmholtz mixing zone. The dependence of the RT and RM scaling parameters on A and the dimensionality will be discussed. The 3D predictions are found to be in good agreement with recent Linear Electric Motor (LEM) experiments.

In the present study the Mach number and the high-initial amplitudes effects on the evolution of the single-mode shock wave induced instability were investigated. To distinguish between the above-mentioned effects, two sets of shock-tube experiments were conducted: high-initial amplitudes with a low-Mach incident shock; and small amplitude initial conditions with moderate-Mach incident shock. In the high-amplitude experiments a reduction of the initial velocity with respect to the linear prediction was measured. The results were compared to those predicted by a vorticity deposition model and to previous experiments with moderate and high Mach numbers done by others and good agreement was found. The result suggested that the high-initial amplitude effect is the dominant one rather then the high-Mach number effect as suggested by others. In the small amplitude-moderate Mach numbers experiments a reduction from the impulsive theory was noted at late stages.

The nonlinear growth, of the multimode incompressible Kelvin-Helmholtz shear flow instability at all density ratios is treated by a large-scale statistical-mechanics eddy-pairing model that is based on the behavior of a single eddy and on the two eddy pairing process. From the model, a linear time growth of the mixing zone is obtained and the linear growth coefficient is derived for several density ratios. Furthermore, the asymptotic eddy size distribution and the average eddy life time probability are calculated. Very good agreement with experimental results and full numerical simulations is achieved.

The present article describes an experimental study that is a part of an integrated theoretical (Rikanati et al. 2003) and experiential investigation of the Richtmyer Meshkov (RM) hydrodynamic instability that develops on a perturbed contact surface by a shock wave. The Mach number and the high initial-amplitude effects on the evolution of the single-mode shock-wave-induced instability were studied. To distinguish between the above-mentioned effects, two sets of shock-tube experiments were conducted: high initial amplitudes with a low-Mach incident shock and small amplitude initial conditions with a moderate-Mach incident shock. In the high-amplitude experiments a reduction of the initial velocity with respect to the linear prediction was measured. The results were compared to those predicted by a vorticity deposition model and to previous experiments with moderate and high Mach numbers done by others and good agreement was found. The result suggested that the high initial-amplitude effect is the dominant one rather than the high Mach number effect as suggested by others. In the small amplitude moderate Mach numbers experiments, a reduction from the impulsive theory was noted at late stages. It is concluded that while high Mach number effect can dramatically change the behavior of the flow at all stages, the high initial-amplitude effect is of minor importance at the late stages. That result is supported by a two-dimensional numerical simulation.

The passage of a shock wave through a spherical bubble results in the formation of a vortex ring. In the present study, simple dimensional analysis is used to show that the circulation is linearly dependent on the surrounding material speed of sound cs and the initial bubble radius R. In addition, it is shown that the velocities characterizing the flow field are linearly dependent on the speed of sound, and are independent of the initial bubble radius. The dependence of the circulation on the shock wave Mach number M is derived by Samtaney and Zabusky (1994) as (1 + 1/M + 2/M2) (M − 1). Experiments were performed for slow/fast (air-helium) and fast/slow (air-SF6) interactions. Full numerical simulations were conducted resulting in good agreement. From the results, it is seen that in both cases, according to the proposed scaling, the vortex ring velocity is bubble radius independent. The numerical results for the slow/fast interaction show that the proposed Mach scaling is valid for M < 2. Above M [congruent with] 2, the topology of the bubble changes due to a competition between the upstream surface of the bubble and the undisturbed shock wave.

Effects of high-Mach numbers and high initial amplitudes on the evolution of the single-mode Richtmyer-Meshkov shock-wave induced hydrodynamic instability are studied using theoretical models, experiments, and numerical simulations. Two regimes in which there is a significant deviation from the linear dependence of the initial velocity on the initial perturbation amplitude are defined and characterized. In one, the observed reduction of the initial velocity is primarily due to large initial amplitudes. This effect is accurately modeled by a vorticity deposition model, quantifying both the effect of the initial perturbation amplitude and the exact shape of the interface. In the other, the reduction is dominated by the proximity of the shock wave to the interface. This effect is modeled by a modified incompressible model where the shock wave is mimicked by a moving bounding wall. These results are supplemented with high initial amplitude Mach 1.2 shock-tube experiments, enabling separation of the two effects. It is shown that in most of the previous experiments, the observed reduction is predominantly due to the effect of high initial amplitudes.

This chapter presents a systematic treatment of shock-wave-induced hydrodynamic mixing instabilities, based on models, simulations, and experiments. The description, based on penetration of the light fluid in the heavy one (bubbles) and the heavy into the light (spikes), provides a comprehensive and understanding of the evolution of the instability for both single-mode and multimode cases. The evolution of the Rayleigh-Taylor and Richtmyer-Meshkov instabilities in the linear and nonlinear stages is also presented. When two fluids of different densities are subjected to an accelerating field, under certain circumstances an instability is created at the contact surface between them. If the acceleration is slowly varied and directed from the heavy fluid to the light one, the Rayleigh-Taylor instability occurs. The theoretical and experimental studies performed regarding the late nonlinear stages of the instability evolution is described. The chapter is devoted to single-mode evolution, but to complete the whole picture, a generalization of the single mode to the multimode case is presented.