Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability Coupled with a Chemical Reaction

The Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability (RMI) and the resulting mixing at an interface between two fluids when accelerated impulsively is of great importance in astrophysics, proposed high-speed combustion systems, and pursuits towards inertial confinement fusion. Experimental studies on RMI often use inert gases, whereas in the applications of interest involving the RMI, the instability occurs in tandem with either chemical or nuclear reactions. Preliminary work has been done on designing an experimental study of the RMI that includes the effect of heat release, in this case coming from chemical reactions. The proposed experiments will be conducted at the Wisconsin Shock Tube Laboratory at UW-Madison and involve the combustion of acetone. Computational results based on the Cantera and CONVERGE codes will be presented showing the feasibility of shock-initiated combustion and its overall impact on the RMI.