Experimental investigation of the interaction of a weak planar shock with grid turbulence in a counter-driver shock tube

The impacts of the interaction with grid turbulence of a turbulent Mach number in the range 0.6 x 10(-2) to 2.4 x 10(-2) (representative value) on a planar shock wave with a shock Mach number of about 1.04 were experimentally investigated. Using the counter-driver shock tube with a 120 mm x 120 mm square cross section, the turbulent Mach number level and the interaction length at the observation section were varied independently. Within resolvable experimental data, the shock Mach number became a decreasing function of the interaction length. The thickness of the shock front side-view profile increased as the turbulent Mach number and the interaction length increased. With a turbulent Mach number of 2.4 x 10(-2) (representative value) and an interaction length longer than 200 mm, the shock front profile became fragmented. The condition for the fragmentation is consistent with the "broken shock" criterion proposed by numerical studies.