Hysteresis phenomenon in supersonic flow past a system of cylinders

The interaction between the bow shocks ahead of a system of bodies in a supersonic flow is numerically investigated. Flow past cylinders with parallel axes lying in the plane perpendicular to the flow direction is calculated. Three different shock interaction patterns are obtained in modeling flow past an infinite periodic lattice, namely, the regular and Mach-type regimes and a regime with flow choking. In the case of two bodies a collective bow shock is formed. Transition between the flow patterns with variation in the freestream Mach number and the spacing between the cylinders is studied. Regular-to-Mach-configuration transition and vice versa occurs at particular angles of inclination of the bow shock at the interaction point determined by the criterion of a maximum flow deflection angle and the von Neumann criterion, respectively.