Numerical simulations of the evolution of interplanetary shocks exhibit growth of distortions of the shock front and non-uniformity of energetic particles from place to place on the shock surface. In this work we use multi-spacecraft (ACE, Wind, IMP 8, Geotail, SOHO, and Genesis) observations near Earth to search for such effects. On scales of 10~5 to 10~6 km, most of the shocks studied are inconsistent with planar structures or with spherical structures with a radius of 1 AU. There are also differences in the energetic particle fluxes seen at ACE and Wind.
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