Author(s)

P. Vorobieff, C. Tomkins, S. Kumar, C. Goodenough, N.G. Mohamed & R.F. Benjamin

Abstract

Richtmyer-Meshkov instability (RMI) occurs wherever a density gradient is impulsively accelerated, e.g., by a shock wave. Misalignment between pressure and density gradients leads to baroclinic production of vorticity, the latter resulting in formation of vortical structures after the shock wave passage. The vortex-dominated evolution of the flow eventually leads to turbulence. In the process of RMI-induced transition to turbulence, several secondary instabilities could develop in the flow, driven, e.g., by shear (Kelvin-Helmholtz) or by density-pressure gradient misalignment (secondary baroclinic instability). The exact nature of the secondary instabilities has been the subject of some discussion in the lite

Keywords