%0 Generic %1 goldsmith2017comparison %A Goldsmith, K. J. A. %A Pittard, J. M. %D 2017 %K clouds shocks simulations winds %T A comparison of shock-cloud and wind-cloud interactions: The longer survival of clouds in winds %U http://arxiv.org/abs/1706.03510 %X The interaction of a hot, high-velocity wind with a cold, dense molecular cloud has often been assumed to resemble the evolution of a cloud embedded in a post-shock flow. However, no direct comparative study of these two processes currently exists in the literature. We present 2D adiabatic hydrodynamical simulations of the interaction of a Mach 10 shock with a cloud of density contrast $= 10$ and compare our results with those of a commensurate wind-cloud simulation. We then investigate the effect of varying the wind velocity, effectively altering the wind Mach number $M_wind$, on the cloud's evolution. We find that there are significant differences between the two processes: 1) the transmitted shock is much flatter in the shock-cloud interaction; 2) a low-pressure region in the wind-cloud case deflects the flow around the edge of the cloud in a different manner to the shock-cloud case; 3) there is far more axial compression of the cloud in the case of the shock. As $M_wind$ increases, the normalised rate of mixing is reduced. Clouds in winds with higher $M_wind$ also do not experience a transmitted shock through the cloud's rear and are more compressed axially. In contrast with shock-cloud simulations, the cloud mixing time normalised by the cloud-crushing time-scale $t_cc$ increases for increasing $M_wind$ until it plateaus (at $t_mix 25 \, t_cc$) at high $M_wind$, thus demonstrating the expected Mach scaling. In addition, clouds in high Mach number winds are able to survive for long durations and are capable of being moved considerable distances.

@misc{goldsmith2017comparison, abstract = {The interaction of a hot, high-velocity wind with a cold, dense molecular cloud has often been assumed to resemble the evolution of a cloud embedded in a post-shock flow. However, no direct comparative study of these two processes currently exists in the literature. We present 2D adiabatic hydrodynamical simulations of the interaction of a Mach 10 shock with a cloud of density contrast $\chi = 10$ and compare our results with those of a commensurate wind-cloud simulation. We then investigate the effect of varying the wind velocity, effectively altering the wind Mach number $M_{wind}$, on the cloud's evolution. We find that there are significant differences between the two processes: 1) the transmitted shock is much flatter in the shock-cloud interaction; 2) a low-pressure region in the wind-cloud case deflects the flow around the edge of the cloud in a different manner to the shock-cloud case; 3) there is far more axial compression of the cloud in the case of the shock. As $M_{wind}$ increases, the normalised rate of mixing is reduced. Clouds in winds with higher $M_{wind}$ also do not experience a transmitted shock through the cloud's rear and are more compressed axially. In contrast with shock-cloud simulations, the cloud mixing time normalised by the cloud-crushing time-scale $t_{cc}$ increases for increasing $M_{wind}$ until it plateaus (at $t_{mix} \simeq 25 \, t_{cc}$) at high $M_{wind}$, thus demonstrating the expected Mach scaling. In addition, clouds in high Mach number winds are able to survive for long durations and are capable of being moved considerable distances.}, added-at = {2017-06-13T10:08:06.000+0200}, author = {Goldsmith, K. J. A. and Pittard, J. M.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/27bbb11f5fe16e8311510fb01cd1ad48a/miki}, description = {[1706.03510] A comparison of shock-cloud and wind-cloud interactions: The longer survival of clouds in winds}, interhash = {8512ee842aa3b755fb6504362a391588}, intrahash = {7bbb11f5fe16e8311510fb01cd1ad48a}, keywords = {clouds shocks simulations winds}, note = {cite arxiv:1706.03510Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures}, timestamp = {2017-06-13T10:08:06.000+0200}, title = {A comparison of shock-cloud and wind-cloud interactions: The longer survival of clouds in winds}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1706.03510}, year = 2017 }