Three-dimensional shock wave configurations induced by two asymmetrical intersecting wedges in supersonic flow

This study explores the three-dimensional (3D) wave configurations induced by 3D asymmetrical intersecting compression wedges in supersonic and hypersonic inviscid flows. By using the “spatial dimension reduction” approach, the problem of 3D steady shock/shock interaction is converted to that of the interaction of two moving shock waves in the characteristic two-dimensional (2D) plane. Shock polar theory is used to analyze the shock configurations in asymmetrical situations. The results show that various shock configurations exist in 3D asymmetrical shock wave interactions, including regular interaction, transitioned regular interaction, single Mach interaction, inverse single Mach interaction, transitional double Mach interaction, weak shock interaction, and weak single Mach interaction. All of the above 3D steady shock/shock interactions have their corresponding 2D moving shock/shock interaction configurations. Numerical simulations are performed by solving the 3D inviscid Euler equations with the non-oscillatory, nonfree parameters, dissipative (NND) numerical scheme, and good agreement with the theoretical analysis is obtained. Furthermore, the comparison of results show that the concept of the “virtual wall” in shock dynamics theory is helpful for understanding the mechanism of two-dimensional shock/shock interactions.