Three-dimensional high-resolution simulations of Rayleigh-Taylor instability and turbulent mixing

Preliminary results of three-dimensional simulations of compressible Rayleigh-Taylor instability and turbulent mixing in an ideal gas using the piecewise-parabolic method (PPM) (with and without molecular dissipation terms) are presented. Simulations with spatial resolutions up to 512{sup 3} were performed. Two types of convergence studies are presented. Statistical analyses of the data are discussed, include: 1: spectra, and; 2) horizontally-averaged terms in the kinetic energy and onstrophy density evolution equations. The application of this statistical data to the development and testing of subgrid-scale models appropriate for compressible Rayleigh-Taylor instability-induced turbulent mixing is discussed.