The phenomena of shock wave reflection - a review of unsolved problems and future research needs

Although the phenomenon of shock wave reflection was discovered more than a hundred years ago, active research related to this phenomenon still goes on in many countries in the world (e.g., Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Israel, Japan, Poland, Russia and United States of America). As a matter of fact the research activity increased so drastically in the past decade and a half that a special scientific meeting dedicated to better understanding the reflection phenomena of shock waves, namely "The International Mach Reflection Symposium" was initiated in 1981 and was held since then in the major research centers actively involved in the research of shock wave reflections. In the present paper the status of the research of the phenomenon of shock wave reflection will be discussed in general, and unresolved problems and future research needs will be pointed out.