An experimental study of the interaction between streamwise vortices a
nd two-dimensional oblique shock waves has been conducted at Mach 2.5.
The experiments involved positioning an instrumented two-dimensional
wedge downstream of a semispan wing so that the trailing tip vortex fr
om the wing interacted with the oblique shock wave formed over the wed
ge surface. The experiments were designed to simulate interaction of s
treamwise vortices with shock waves formed over aerodynamic surfaces o
r in supersonic inlets. The influence of oblique shock wave intensity
on this inherently three-dimensional interaction was examined for vort
ices of variable strength. Results indicate that the interaction of a
moderate strength vortex with an oblique shock wave can lead to the fo
rmation of a steady separated shock structure upstream of the oblique
shock front. A significant expansion of the vortex core is observed in
these cases, and the scale of the structure increases with shock wave
intensity. In some instances the separated shock structure continues
through the oblique shock front to strike the shock-generating wedge f
orming a three-dimensional shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction. The
experiments indicate that significant distortion of streamwise vortice
s can be precipitated by oblique shock fronts with supersonic downstre
am conditions.