A code-based study of the pseudo-steady shock reflection process

Numerical calculations of the shock wave reflection at plane inclined walls (wedges) were performed applying the Code SHARC. The parametrical study made for incident shock Mach numbers of 1.37 and 2.55 covered a wedge angle range from 40degree to 57degree. The aim of the present paper is to compare experimentally determined reflection factors with numerical data as well as with predictions of the von Neumann theory. The numerical data confirm the experimental ones; the theory does it partially. Analyzing the numerically obtained spatial distribution of the pressure close to the wedge surface and for wedge angles near the transition angles indications for transition from regular (RR) to irregular reflection (IR) could be found.