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As seen here, there are two T-38's going supersonic. What happens when those shockwaves interact? They seem to dissipate in some places on this photo when they interact. Any source online says that they will "produce complex patterns of compression, rarefaction, and reflection."

However I can't find anything on why that happens.

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Remember, shockwaves and expansion fans are all about turning the flow. The required turning can be observed from the boundary conditions (the walls).

Each shock / fan exists to turn the flow from one condition to the next.

Where two flow features meet, they either add together or cancel out -- depending on whether their combined turning is complimentary or canceling.

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  • $\begingroup$ oh okay, so generally they don't reflect or refract? $\endgroup$
    – Wyatt
    Commented Mar 30 at 1:40
  • $\begingroup$ I would think they do because if you look at a lambda shock, the normal and oblique shock seem to reflect off of each other. $\endgroup$
    – Wyatt
    Commented Mar 30 at 2:13
  • $\begingroup$ There are many possible situations that can happen. They are categorized as Type 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. Check out this reference osti.gov/servlets/purl/4480948 jump straight to the pictures around page 86. Note, the flow is right-to-left not left-to-right (which I'm more used to). $\endgroup$
    – Rob McDonald
    Commented Mar 30 at 4:47

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