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Numerical simulations are described for three idealized shear layer problems typical of shock reflection flow fields: free shear layers (corresponding to a slip line emanating from a triple point), a wall shear layer (approximating a boundary layer behind a shock), and a wall jet (similar to those found in precursor and double-Mach-stem flows). The dynamic evolution of the shear layers was followed by means of numerical solutions of the inviscid conservation laws of gasdynamics. The inviscid shear layer discontinuity was de- singularized by initializing the flowfield with a Tanh(y) velocity profile that, in effect, allows one to resolve the shear layer on the computational mesh. The inflow velocity profile was then perturbed with the fundamental frequency (from linear stability analysis) and its subharmonics. The macroscopic features of the calculations (e.g., the formation and growth of large-scale rotational structures, the visual spreading rates, and the mean flow profiles) agree quantitatively with the available experimental data. The fluctuating flow components agree qualitatively (e.g., the peak velocity fluctuations can be 1.5 to 2 times larger than the data, because of the two-dimensional flow approximation). These calculations demonstrate that the fluctuating, time- dependent flow variations observed in such problems are caused by the dynamic evolution of unstable shear layers, and that the dynamics is dominated by inviscid effects for such large-Reynolds-number flows.

An extensive series of numerical calculations of oblique shock wave reflections in air and argon have been performed using a version of the second order Eulerian Godunov scheme for inviscid compressible flow. This scheme is among the best of the upwind schemes developed in recent years. The results have been compared with the best available interferometric data from the UTIAS 10 cm x 18 cm shock tube, for fifteen different cases. The objective of this portion of the study was to assess the accuracy of the computer code in computing two-dimensional shocked flow of an inviscid perfect gas. A significant portion of our analysis is devoted to the question of the extent of influence of viscous and vibrational nonequilibrium effects on the experimental flow flieds. Further parametrized series of calculations were performed in an effort to study the feasibility of numerically constructing inviscid transition lines in the (M, theta)-plane. Good agreement with analytic predictions was found for low values of M and, as might be expected, there are substantial discrepancies for M = 8.75. The possibility of using such numerical results in the formulation of accurate transition criteria is discussed. Overall, the computer code has been found to represent a significant predictive capability. The future extension of the code to permit the detailed modelling of nonequilibrium and viscous effects is, however, an important objective.