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  • Open Access

Effect of density ratio on velocity dynamics in the blast-driven instability

Samuel J. Petter, Benjamin C. Musci, Gokul Pathikonda*, Prasoon Suchandra, and Devesh Ranjan†,‡

  • George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA

  • *Present Address: 551 E Tyler Mall ERC 479Tempe, AZ 85281.
  • †Present address: 2610, Engineering Hall 1415 Engineering Dr Madison, WI.
  • ‡Contact author: Devesh.Ranjan@me.gatech.edu
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Phys. Rev. Fluids 10, 093902 – Published 17 September, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qpgn-6gg2

Abstract

Results are presented for the explosive blast-driven instability of a stratified interface in a diverging cylindrical geometry using high-speed optical diagnostics. Specifically, the perturbation growth was studied using the qualitative Mie scattering technique, and the velocity, mixing transition, and vorticity characteristics are studied to investigate the behavior of the interface using planar particle image velocimetry (PIV). The role of density contrast is studied using CO2-air (low Atwood number, A) and SF6-air (high-A) interfaces. The perturbation growth h∼tθ was studied, where the decay parameter θ was found for A∼0.22 and A∼0.68 to be 0.34 and 0.50, respectively. Using velocity information from PIV, it was found that the initial vorticity deposition from the pressure impulse can accurately be estimated using known models previously developed for Richtmyer-Meshkov instability. There is a significant addition to the interface circulation by the long pressure decay phase of the blast wave, which gives rise to a variable acceleration Rayleigh-Taylor instability contribution. The high-A case showed a prolonged increase in circulation, plausibly due to higher inertia. This trend was also supported by variations in peak turbulence intensity, where a sharp increase at early times quickly decays with increased mixing between the two fluids. Finally, the interface Reynolds number of the higher A was found to exceed all criteria for the mixing transition (also indicated by the qualitative observations of the mixing in spike-structures in the Mie scattering images).

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Phys. Rev. Fluids 10, 093902– Published 17 September, 2025
  • Received 31 October 2024
  • Accepted 1 July 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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