Abstract: Interfacial instability, especially the Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) instability, is
a significant topic in fluid mechanics because of its academic implication and engineering
applications. Much attention has been paid to RM instability since it was proposed. Great
progresses have been made through experimental, numerical and theoretical investigations.
Currently, it is an important tool for the study of RM instability to perform the experiment
of a shock wave interacting with a fluid interface in the shock tube. The generation of a
shock wave, the formation of an initial interface and the diagnostic of the flow field are the
three elements that must be considered in the experimental study of RM instability. This
review article surveys the advances in experimental investigations of RM instability, and
proposes the following issues for future study: (1) evolution of the RM instability induced
by cylindrical converging shock waves; (2) developments of the polygonal interface and the
initial perturbation with large amplitudes accelerated by shock waves; (3) the effect of the
three space dimensions on the RM instability; and (4) the formation and mixing mechanism
of the compressible turbulence.