LARGE AMPLITUDE THEORY OF A SHOCK-ACCELERATED INSTABILITY IN COMPRESSIBLE FLUIDS

Abstract

The interface between fluids of different densities is unstable under acceleration by a shock wave. A previous small amplitude linear theory for the compressible Euler equation failed to provide a quantitatively correct prediction for the growth rate of the unstable interface. In this paper, to include dominant nonlinear effects in a large amplitude regime, we present high-order perturbation equations of the Euler equation, and boundary conditions for the contact interface and shock waves.