Intermediate Reflection between Mach and von Neumann Reflections

In oblique shock reflection, when an incident shock Mach number and/or a reflecting wedge angle are small, the reflection configuration differs from Mach reflection (MR) and is known as von Neumann (NR). It is characteristic in that a Mach stem is tangentially connected with the incident shock at a triple point, the reflected wave is weak, and a slip stream is barely observable. In the present study, under the constant Mach number condition of a strong shock wave, we conducted experiments for different reflecting wedge angles in a shock tube. We discuss the characteristics of MRs and NRs based on experiment results and examine the validity of discriminating reflection configuration by MRs and NRs. We propose to discriminate intermediate reflection configurations between MRs and NRs from both reflections, since behavior on the (omega(1),omega(1))-plane is different.