Review on hydrodynamic instabilities of a shocked gas layer

Hydrodynamic instabilities induced by a shock wave can be observed in both natural phenomena and engineering applications, and are frequently employed to study gas dynamics, vortex dynamics, and turbulence. Controlling these instabilities is very desirable, but remains a challenge in applications such as inertial confinement fusion. The field of shock-gas-layer interaction has experienced rapid development, driven by advances in experimental and numerical techniques as well as theoretical understanding. This domain has uncovered a diverse array of wave patterns and hydrodynamic instabilities, such as reverberating waves, feedthrough, abnormal and freeze-out Richtmyer-Meshkov instability, among others. Studies have shown that it is possible to suppress these instabilities by appropriately configuring a gas layer. Here we review the recent progress in theories, experiments, and simulations of shock-gas-layer interactions, and the feedthrough mechanism, the reverberating waves and their induced additional instabilities, as well as the convergent geometry and reshock effects, are focused. The conditions for suppressing hydrodynamic instabilities are summarized. The review concludes by highlighting the challenges and prospects for future research in this area.

Automated summary

Hydrodynamic instabilities induced by shock wave have been extensively studied in both natural and engineering systems. Recent progress in experimental, numerical, and theoretical approaches has shed light on various wave patterns and instabilities, including reverberating waves and Richtmyer-Meshkov instability. It has been shown that these instabilities can be suppressed by proper configuration of a gas layer. Further research in this area faces challenges and holds prospects for improving understanding and control of hydrodynamic instabilities.