Reynolds number effects on the single-mode Richtmyer-Meshkov instability.

The Reynolds number effects on the nonlinear growth rates of the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability are investigated using two-dimensional numerical simulations. A decrease in Reynolds number gives an increased time to reach nonlinear saturation, with Reynolds number effects only significant in the range Re<256. Within this range there is a sharp change in instability properties. The bubble and spike amplitudes move towards equal size at lower Reynolds numbers and the bubble velocities decay faster than predicted by Sohn's model [S.-I. Sohn, Phys. Rev. E 80, 055302 (2009)PLEEE81539-375510.1103/PhysRevE.80.055302]. Predicted amplitudes show reasonable agreement with the existing theory of Carles and Popinet [P. Carles and S. Popinet, Phys. Fluids Lett. 13, 1833 (2001)10.1063/1.1377863; Eur. J. Mech. B 21, 511 (2002)EJBFEV0997-754610.1016/S0997-7546(02)01199-8] and Mikaelian [K. O. Mikaelian, Phys. Rev. E 47, 375 (1993)1063-651X10.1103/PhysRevE.47.375; K. O. Mikaelian, Phys. Rev. E 87, 031003 (2013)PLEEE81539-375510.1103/PhysRevE.87.031003], with the former being the closest match to the current computations.