A study on blast wave diffractions and the dynamics of associated vortices inside different grooves kept at various lateral distances from the shock tube

Diffraction is a fundamental phenomenon that occurs when blast or shock waves pass over sudden discontinuous surfaces. It generates a complex flow field consisting of diffracted waves, expansion waves, slipstream, contact surface, and an unstable shear layer, in addition to emitting acoustic waves. In this study, we investigated the diffraction of a blast wave passing over a series of grooved structures with different aspect ratios and geometrical shapes (rectangular, circular, and triangular) using high-speed shadowgraph images. The blast wave Mach number considered in our investigation is 1.34. The grooves feature leading-edge geometrical variations such as rectangular, circular arc, and wedge shapes positioned at various lateral locations from the exit of the shock tube. The aspect ratios of the rectangular grooves vary from 0.33, 0.5, and 0.67. The circular and triangular grooves have an aspect ratio of 0.33. The trajectories and velocities of the primary vortex are calculated by tracking the location of the vortex in the shadowgraph images. Our observations revealed that a large portion of the incident blast wave is abducted inside the groove as the aspect ratio increases in rectangular grooves, resulting in better attenuation of the blast wave. The grooves, which have circular shapes, produced weaker diffraction, which resulted in delayed and weak primary vortex. The triangular grooves produced the strongest primary vortex and have the highest attenuation characteristics among other grooves. The strength and trajectory of the primary vortex formed over the grooves strongly depend on the aspect ratio and the curvature of the leading edge for a given Mach number. Vortices generated from rectangular and triangular grooves exhibit considerable strength and longevity.