Microscopic structure of the Mach-type reflection of weak shock waves

The purpose of the present work was to investigate the microscopic structure of the three-shock inter-action region generated in a low-density shock tube during the Mach-type reflection of a weak shock wave. The experimental conditions corresponded to the case when Von Neumann's theory fails to predict the existence of reflection while Guderley's theory predicts the presence of a rarefaction wave behind the reflected shock. The experiment shows that under such conditions the Mach-type reflection does exist, and no rarefaction wave is present. A possible reason for this disagreement is the influence of viscosity, neglected in Von Neumann's and Guderley's theories.