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Experimental regular and Mach reflection transition hysteresis induced by Mach-number variation and free-stream disturbances

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2025

Jacob B. Vaughn*
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Edward B. White
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, USA
Ivett A. Leyva
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Rodney D.W. Bowersox
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
*
Corresponding author: Jacob B. Vaughn, vaughntastic77@tamu.edu

Abstract

Hysteresis in the transition between regular reflection (RR) and Mach reflection (MR) has been predicted theoretically and numerically for decades, yet successful experimental demonstrations have remained limited to wedge-angle-variation-induced hysteresis. This work presents the first successful experimental demonstration of Mach-number-variation-induced hysteresis. Utilising a newly developed continuously variable Mach 5–8 wind-tunnel nozzle, Mach-sweep experiments were conducted on a pair of wedges at three different angles ($25^{\circ }$, $27^{\circ }$ and $28^{\circ }$). A stable RR was first established at Mach 7 within the dual-solution domain for each angle, and then the Mach number was decreased to 5. For the $27^{\circ }$ and $28^{\circ }$ cases, transition from RR to MR was observed at Mach 5.3 and 5.9, respectively, during the downward Mach sweep, and the MR state persisted throughout the upward sweep back to Mach 7. During the $25^{\circ }$ case, a stable RR was maintained throughout the entire Mach sweep, prompting further experiments into the effect of free-stream disturbances on the stability of the RR state. Preliminary results revealed a free-stream-disturbance-induced hysteresis and that the RR state is metastable with potential stochastic behaviour.

Information

Type
JFM Rapids
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Figure 1. Schematics of shock reflection configurations: incident shock (i), reflected shock (r), Mach stem (m), trailing-edge expansion fan (f), incident-shock angle ($\alpha$), slipstream (s) and triple point (T).

Figure 1

Figure 2. Dual-solution domain with hysteresis paths shown: AA$'$A, BB$'$B, CC$'$C, DD$'$D.

Figure 2

Figure 3. The ACE tunnel schematic (flow left to right); test section height shown and 36 cm width into page.

Figure 3

Figure 4. Experimental test article.

Figure 4

Figure 5. Schlieren set-up schematic with optical components information.

Figure 5

Figure 6. The RR$\rightarrow$MR hysteresis cycle induced by Mach-number variation for $\theta = 28^{\circ }$, $2g = 41$ mm and ${Re}' = 1.5 \times 10^6$ m−1 (also see Supplementary Movie 1). The dark-shaded arcs at the top and bottom of each image are parts of the wedge-angle adjustment system and do not interact with the shock waves.

Figure 6

Figure 7. The RR $\rightarrow$ MR hysteresis cycle induced by Mach-number variation for $\theta = 27^{\circ }$, $2g = 41$ mm and ${Re}' = 1.5 \times 10^6$ m−1 (also see Supplementary Movie 2).

Figure 7

Figure 8. The RR $\rightarrow$ MR hysteresis cycle induced by free-stream disturbances during Mach-number variation for $\theta = 25^{\circ }$, $2 g = 40$ mm and ${Re}' = 4.5 \times 10^6$ m−1 (also see Supplementary Movie 3).

Figure 8

Figure 9. The ACE free-stream conditions for the various test sequences (noise calculated as $P'_{0,\textit{rms}}/\overline {P_0}$ from Pitot stagnation pressure measured with Kulite XCEL-100-5A sampled at 500 kHz and low-pass filtered at 100 kHz).

Figure 9

Figure 10. Both outcomes due to free-stream disturbance variations for $\theta = 25^{\circ }, 2 g = 40$ mm and $M = 6.0$ (also see Supplementary Movie 4 and Supplementary Movie 5).

Supplementary material: File

Vaughn et al. supplementary movie 1

Schlieren video of RR→MR hysteresis cycle induced by Mach number variation for θ = 28°, 2g = 41mm, and $Re' = 1.5 \times 106/m$.
Download Vaughn et al. supplementary movie 1(File)
File 8.3 MB
Supplementary material: File

Vaughn et al. supplementary movie 2

Schlieren video of RR→MR hysteresis cycle induced by Mach number variation for θ = 27°, 2g = 41mm, and $Re' = 1.5 \times 106/m$.
Download Vaughn et al. supplementary movie 2(File)
File 7.8 MB
Supplementary material: File

Vaughn et al. supplementary movie 3

Schlieren video of RR→MR hysteresis cycle induced by free-stream disturbances during Mach number variation for θ = 25°, 2g = 40mm, and $Re' = 4.5 \times 106/m$.
Download Vaughn et al. supplementary movie 3(File)
File 4.2 MB
Supplementary material: File

Vaughn et al. supplementary movie 4

Schlieren video of RR→MR hysteresis cycle induced by free-stream disturbance variation for θ = 25°, 2g = 40mm, and M = 6.0. Mean free-stream pressure fluctuations gradually increase from ≤ 0.1% to ≥ 1.0% between $Re' = 2.5 - 4.0 \times 106/m$.
Download Vaughn et al. supplementary movie 4(File)
File 8.9 MB
Supplementary material: File

Vaughn et al. supplementary movie 5

Schlieren video of stable RR with no RR→MR transition during free-stream disturbance variation for θ = 25°, 2g = 40mm, and M = 6.0. Mean free-stream pressure fluctuations gradually increase from ≤ 0.1% to ≥ 1.0% between $Re' = 2.5 - 4.0 \times 106/m$.
Download Vaughn et al. supplementary movie 5(File)
File 8.9 MB