Effects of compressibility on Richtmyer–Meshkov instability of heavy/light interface

Experimental and numerical studies on the evolution of shock-accelerated SF6/air interface with small initial amplitude are conducted. The effect of compressibility on the early development of perturbation is highlighted by varying shock intensity and fluid properties. The startup process is analyzed when rarefaction waves are reflected and the characteristic time of the startup process is provided. The relationship between the phase inversion process and the startup process under different incident shock strengths is clarified. According to the startup time, a new start point for normalization is given, which can better normalize the amplitude growth at the early stage. In addition, the effects of incident shock strength and physical properties of fluids on the linear growth rate are highlighted through numerical simulations. The incompressible linear model loses validity when the incident shock is strong, and the existing rotational model is verified to provide excellent predictions under any shock strengths. The decrease in adiabatic exponent of the heavy fluid or the increase in adiabatic exponent of the light fluid can reduce the linear growth rate. As the absolute value of Atwood number increases, the adiabatic exponent of the heavy fluid has a more significant effect on the linear growth than that of the light fluid.