Linearized Richtmyer-Meshkov flow analysis for impulsively accelerated incompressible solids.

We present an analytical study of the linearized impulsive Richtmyer-Meshkov flow for incompressible elastic solids. Seminumerical prior investigations of a related shock-driven compressible elastic problem suggest that the interface amplitude remains bounded in time, in contrast to the unstable behavior found for gases. Our approach considers a base unperturbed flow and a linearization of the conservation equations around the base solution. The resulting initial and boundary value problem is solved using Laplace transform techniques. Analysis of the singularities of the resultant function in the Laplace domain allows us to perform a parametric study of the behavior of the interface in time. We identify two differentiated long-term patterns for the interface, which depends on the material properties: standing wave and oscillating decay. Finally, we present results for the vorticity distribution, which show that the shear stiffness of the solids is responsible both for the stabilization of the interface, and also for the period of the interface oscillations. Comparisons with previous results are discussed.