VELOCITY-FIELD MEASUREMENTS OF A SHOCK-ACCELERATED FLUID INSTABILITY

A cylinder of heavy gas (SF{sub 6}) in air is hit by a Mach 1.2 shock. The resultant Richtmyer-Meshkov instability is observed as it propagates through the test section of the shock tube. Six images are taken after shock impact, and the velocity field at one time is measured using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The images of the density field show the development of a secondary instability in the cylinder. The velocity field provides us with information about the magnitudes of the velocities as well as the magnitude of the vorticity in the flow