Modal Discontinuous Galerkin Simulations of Richtmyer–Meshkov Instability at Backward-Triangular Bubbles: Insights and Analysis

Abstract

This paper investigates the dynamics of Richtmyer–Meshkov instability (RMI) in shocked backward-triangular bubbles through numerical simulations. Two distinct gases, He and SF6, are used within the backward-triangular bubble, surrounded by N2 gas. Simulations are conducted at two distinct strengths of incident shock wave, including Ms=1.25 and 1.50. A third-order modal discontinuous Galerkin (DG) scheme is applied to simulate a physical conservation laws of two-component gas flows in compressible inviscid framework. Hierarchical Legendre modal polynomials are employed for spatial discretization in the DG platform. This scheme reduces the conservation laws into a semi-discrete set of ODEs in time, which is then solved using an explicit 3rd-order SSP Runge–Kutta scheme. The results reveal significant effects of bubble density and Mach numbers on the growth of RMI in the shocked backward-triangular bubble, a phenomenon not previously reported. These effects greatly influence flow patterns, leading to intricate wave formations, shock focusing, jet generation, and interface distortion. Additionally, a detailed analysis elucidates the mechanisms driving vorticity formation during the interaction process. The study also thoroughly examines these effects on the flow fields based on various integral quantities and interface characteristics.