Review of shock wave detection method in CFD post-processing

In the present computational fluid dynamics (CFD) community, post-processing is regarded as a procedure to view parameter distribution, detect characteristic structure and reveal physical mechanism of fluid flow based on computational or experimental results. Field plots by contours, iso-surfaces, streamlines, vectors and others are traditional post-processing techniques. While the shock wave, as one important and critical flow structure in many aerodynamic problems, can hardly be detected or distinguished in a direct way using these traditional methods, due to possible confusions with other similar discontinuous flow structures like slip line, contact discontinuity, etc. Therefore, method for automatic detection of shock wave in post-processing is of great importance for both academic research and engineering applications. In this paper, the current status of methodologies developed for shock wave detection and implementations in post-processing platform are reviewed, as well as discussions on advantages and limitations of the existing methods and proposals for further studies of shock wave detection method. We also develop an advanced post-processing software, with improved shock detection.