Investigating the effect of relaxation time on Richtmyer–Meshkov instability under reshock impact: a two-component discrete Boltzmann method study

Abstract The Richtmyer–Meshkov (RM) instability plays an important role in various natural and engineering fields such as inertial confinement fusion. In this study, the effect of relaxation time on the RM instability under reshock impact is investigated using a two-component discrete Boltzmann method. The hydrodynamic and thermodynamic characteristics of the fluid system are comprehensively analyzed from the perspectives of the density gradient, vorticity, kinetic energy, mixing degree, mixing width and non-equilibrium intensity. Simulation results indicate that for longer relaxation time, the diffusion and dissipation are enhanced, the physical gradients decrease, and the growth of the interface is suppressed. Furthermore, the non-equilibrium manifestations show complex patterns, driven by the competitive physical mechanisms of the diffusion, dissipation, shock wave, rarefaction wave, transverse wave and fluid instabilities. These findings provide valuable insight into the fundamental mechanism of compressible fluid flows.