Al. Velikovich, ANALYTIC THEORY OF RICHTMYER-MESHKOV INSTABILITY FOR THE CASE OF REFLECTED RAREFACTION WAVE, Physics of fluids, 8(6), 1996, pp. 1666-1679
An analytic theory of the Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instability for the c
ase of reflected rarefaction wave is presented. The exact solutions of
the linearized equations of compressible fluid dynamics are obtained
by the method used previously for the reflected shock wave case of the
RM instability and for stability analysis of a ''stand-alone'' rarefa
ction wave. The time histories of perturbations and asymptotic growth
rates given by the analytic theory are shown to be in good agreement w
ith earlier linear and nonlinear numerical results. Applicability of t
he prescriptions based on the impulsive model is discussed. The theory
is applied to analyze stability of solutions of the Riemann problem,
for the case of two rarefaction waves emerging after interaction. The
RM instability is demonstrated to develop with fully symmetrical initi
al conditions of the unperturbed Riemann problem, identically zero den
sity difference across the contact interface both before and after int
eraction, and zero normal acceleration of the interface. This confirms
that the RM instability is not caused by the instant normal accelerat
ion of the interface, and hence, is not a type of Rayleigh-Taylor inst
ability. The RM instability is related to the growth of initial transv
erse velocity perturbations at the interface, which may be either pres
ent initially as in symmetrical Riemann problem, or be induced by a sh
ock passing a corrugated interface. (C) 1996 American Institute of Phy
sics.