Steady, pseudo-steady and unsteady shock wave reflections

The reflection of oblique shock waves has been the subject of numerous experimental, analytical and numerical studies in the past five decades. In the past six years three reviews have been published on various aspects of shock wave phenomena by Griffith (1981), Bazhenova et al. (1984) and Hornung (1985). However, these reviews were not devoted completely to shock wave reflection phenomena and as such they are more limited in scope than the present review. Furthermore, the developments since these reviews were written suggested a need for an up-to-date comprehensive review. The present review is aimed at describing in detail the entire shock wave reflection phenomenon from a phenomenological point of view. It is divided into three parts. The first is dedicated to the reflection in pseudo-steady flows, e.g., shock tube experiments over straight wedges, the second concentrates on steady flows, e.g., wind tunnel experiments, and the third describes the phenomenon in truly unsteady flows, e.g., shock tube experiment over non-straight wedges, spherical blast wave reflections, etc. In each of these flow patterns, unsolved problems are discussed and future research needs are identified. In order to keep this review within an acceptable size it was decided not to include details of numerical studies. Whenever possible the nomenclature is the one suggested by Ben-Dor and Dewey (1985).