Compressible Rayleigh-Taylor turbulent mixing under different acceleration histories

Compressible Rayleigh-Taylor turbulent mixing (CRTM) induced by Rayleigh-Taylor instability occurs when a compressible fluid of heavy density is accelerated or supported against gravity by a compressible fluid of light density, and is of fundamental importance in applications from combustion, to inertial confinement fusion, and to astrophysics. Traditionally, CRTFs are studied under constant acceleration histories. Due to the nature of the processes, however, it is necessary to study CRTF under general acceleration histories g(t). In this aspect, the evolution of Rayleigh-Taylor turbulent mixing under complex acceleration histories, including changes in signs, have been studied numerically[1] and experimentally[2] for incompressible flows, leaving an open question on that of compressible flows. In fact, most engineering problems are compressible. In addition, the available engineering turbulence models cannot capture the variation of mixing width for CRTM with complex acceleration histories, such as the gravity reversal. In order to better understanding the dynamic of CRTM under different variation histories, several DNS cases with different acceleration histories have been conducted and analyzed.