Reflection of a converging cylindrical shock wave segment by a straight wedge

As a converging cylindrical shock wave propagates over a wedge, the shock wave accelerates and the angle between the shock wave and the wedge decreases. This causes the conditions at the reflection point to move from what would be the irregular reflection domain for a straight shock wave into the regular reflection domain. This paper covers a largely qualitative study of the reflection of converging shock wave segments with Mach numbers between 1.2 and 2.1 by wedges inclined at angles between 15∘\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$15^\circ $$\end{document} and 60∘\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$60^\circ $$\end{document} from experimental and numerical results. The sonic condition conventionally used for predicting the type of reflection of straight shock waves was found to also be suitable for predicting the initial reflection of a curved shock wave. Initially regular reflections persisted until the shock was completely reflected by the wedge, whereas the triple point of initially irregular reflections was observed to return to the wedge surface, forming transitioned regular reflection. After the incident shock wave was completely reflected by the wedge, a shock wave focusing mechanism was observed to amplify the pressure on the surface of the wedge by a factor of up to 100 for low wedge angles.