investigation of pulse detonation engines; theory, design

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Dissertations and Theses Spring 2013 Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design and Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design and Analysis Analysis Jeff Vizcaino Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.erau.edu/edt Part of the Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics Commons Scholarly Commons Citation Scholarly Commons Citation Vizcaino, Jeff, "Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design and Analysis" (2013). Dissertations and Theses. 145. https://commons.erau.edu/edt/145 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected].

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Page 1: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

Dissertations and Theses

Spring 2013

Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design and Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design and

Analysis Analysis

Jeff Vizcaino Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach

Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.erau.edu/edt

Part of the Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics Commons

Scholarly Commons Citation Scholarly Commons Citation Vizcaino, Jeff, "Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design and Analysis" (2013). Dissertations and Theses. 145. https://commons.erau.edu/edt/145

This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected].

Page 2: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

INVESTIGATION OF PULSE DETONATION ENGINES; THEORY, DESIGN,

AND ANALYSIS

By

Jeff Vizcaino

A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Studies Office in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree of Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Daytona Beach, FL

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Dr. Magdy Attia for all the support, guidance, and education provided

through our interactions. Additionally I would like to extend my gratitude to Dr. William Engblom

and Dr. Eric Perrell for their assistance and support throughout my graduate career. Francisco

Romo, Darrell Stevens for their assistance and all my coworkers in the Embry-Riddle Gas Turbine

Lab. None of my work would have been possible without the tireless efforts of those mentioned

above.

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ABSTRACT

Author: Jeff Vizcaino

Title: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design and Analysis

Institution: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Degree: Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering

Year: 2012

Detonation and constant volume combustion has been known to the scientific community for some

time but only recently has active research been done into its applications. Detonation based

engines have received much attention in the last two decades because of its simple design and

potential benefits to the aerospace industry. It is then the goal of this study to provide a background

into detonation theory and application and establish the basis for future detonation based research

at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. In this paper we will discuss the experimental aspects

of building, testing, and analysis of a pulsed detonation tube including the development of a pulsed

detonation testbed and analysis via computational fluid dynamics.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................................................................................................iii

ABSTRACT iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................................. v

LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................................... ix

LIST OF TABLES...................................................................................................................................................... xiv

NOMENCLATURE .................................................................................................................................................... xv

1 PROBLEM STATEMENT ........................................................................................................................................ 1

2 BACKGROUND AND THEORY ............................................................................................................................. 2

2.1 Deflagration ...................................................................................................................................................... 2

2.2 Detonation ......................................................................................................................................................... 3

2.3 Chapman-Jouguet Condition ............................................................................................................................. 4

2.4 ZND Model ....................................................................................................................................................... 6

2.5 Detonation Waves ............................................................................................................................................. 9

Detonation Wave Formation ...............................................................................................10

Detonation Propagation .......................................................................................................10

2.6 Detonation Cells .............................................................................................................................................. 11

2.7 Thermodynamic Cycles .................................................................................................................................. 15

Humphrey Cycle ..................................................................................................................15

Fickett-Jacobs Cycle ............................................................................................................16

3 PULSE DETONATION ENGINE DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS ........................................................................ 19

3.1 Oxidizer and Fuel Selection ............................................................................................................................ 19

3.2 Detonation Initiation ....................................................................................................................................... 19

Spark Initiation ....................................................................................................................20

Deflagration to Detonation Transition (DDT) .....................................................................24

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Methods of Flame Acceleration ..........................................................................................26

Shchelkin Spiral ..................................................................................................................26

4 PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF DETONATION THEORY ............................................................................ 33

4.1 Overview ......................................................................................................................................................... 33

4.2 Existing Designs ............................................................................................................................................. 35

Valved Pulsed Detonation Engines .....................................................................................35

Valveless Pulsed Detonation Engines .................................................................................35

Rotating Detonation Engines (RDE) ...................................................................................36

5 NUMERICAL ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................................... 38

5.1 Case Studies .................................................................................................................................................... 38

5.2 Validation Case 1: 1-Dimensional Detonation Propagation............................................................................ 39

5.3 Validation Case 2: 2-Dimensional Propagation .............................................................................................. 48

6 TEST EQUIPMENT AND METHODOLOGY....................................................................................................... 59

6.1 Experimental Method ...................................................................................................................................... 59

6.2 Experimental Hardware .................................................................................................................................. 59

7 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS ................................................................................................................................. 65

7.1 Theoretical results ........................................................................................................................................... 65

7.2 Uncertainty ...................................................................................................................................................... 66

Calculation of Uncertainty ..................................................................................................66

7.3 Low Frequency Tube Testing ......................................................................................................................... 67

7.4 High Frequency Tube Configuration I Testing ............................................................................................... 71

Pressure Trends ...................................................................................................................71

Wavespeed Trends ..............................................................................................................74

7.5 High Frequency Tube Configuration II Testing .............................................................................................. 78

Results .................................................................................................................................78

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Detonation Performance ......................................................................................................82

Thermal Performance ..........................................................................................................87

Sound Levels .......................................................................................................................90

Observations & Issues .........................................................................................................91

8 Conclusions, Recommendations, and Guidelines for future studies ........................................................................ 94

8.1 Recommendations for Numerical Studies ....................................................................................................... 94

Chemical Kinetics ...............................................................................................................94

Adaptive Meshing ...............................................................................................................94

Possible applications and future studies ..............................................................................96

8.2 Recommendations for Experimental Studies .................................................................................................. 97

Filling & Purging .................................................................................................................97

Obstacle Configuration ........................................................................................................98

Sound Insulation and isolation ............................................................................................98

High Speed Digitizers .........................................................................................................99

Ion Sensing ..........................................................................................................................99

Possible applications and future studies ............................................................................100

9 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................................... 101

10 APPENDIX A: DETAILED EXPERIMENTAL SETUP ........................................................................... 107

10.1 Sensors and Instrumentation ......................................................................................................................... 108

10.2 Hardware ....................................................................................................................................................... 110

10.3 Data Acquisition and Instrumentation Wiring .............................................................................................. 113

10.4 Test Procedure............................................................................................................................................... 121

11 APPENDIX B: CALCULATION OF FILLING PARAMETERS ............................................................. 122

12 APPENDIX C: DRAWINGS AND DIAGRAMS ...................................................................................... 126

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13 APPENDIX D: RAW DATA & RESULTS................................................................................................ 148

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Control volume used in CJ Model (4) 4

Figure 2: Hugoniot Curve for CJ Theory (4) 5

Figure 3: ZND vs. CJ properties 7

Figure 4: Physical properties of the 1-D Detonation Wave Structure 7

Figure 5: Soot image of detonation propagation (H2 + O2) (4) 9

Figure 6: Schematic of Detonation Cell 11

Figure 7: Soot foil device for visualization 12

Figure 8: Cell size vs. Equivalence Ratio (14) 14

Figure 9: PV diagram for Humphrey Cycle (1) 15

Figure 10: TS diagram for Humphrey Cycle (1) 15

Figure 11: PV diagram for Fickett-Jacobs Cycle (7) 16

Figure 12: FJ Thermal Efficiency (7) 16

Figure 13: Physical Steps that make up the Fickett-Jacobs Cycle (7) 17

Figure 14: Planar Detonation Wave through use of a Planar Initiator (9) 21

Figure 15: Cylindrical Detonation 21

Figure 16: Critical Energy vs. Equivalence Ratio (Tetryl: 4.2kJ/g) (10) 22

Figure 17: Critical Tube diameter vs. Equivalence Ratio (Dc = 13λ) (10) 22

Figure 18: Critical energy vs. Discharge time (11) 24

Figure 19: Critical Energy vs. Spark Gap Length (11) 23

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Figure 20: Shchelkin Spiral Concept 26

Figure 21: Shchelkin Spiral after testing (18) 27

Figure 22: Dynamic Planar Initiator 30

Figure 23: Dynamic Toroidal Initiator 30

Figure 24: Chemiluminescence Images of Toroidal Initiator (9) 31

Figure 25: Crossover Detonation Tube Internal Configuration 31

Figure 26: Configuration of a typical thrust producing PDE (21) 33

Figure 27: Valveless PDE Design by Brophy et al. (24) 36

Figure 28: Valve-less PDE by Shimo & Heister (23) 36

Figure 29: Initial Conditions for Case 1 39

Figure 30: Expected ZND Profile for Case 1 41

Figure 31: Pressure Distribution for 1-D simulation 42

Figure 32: Peak Pressure Region for 1-D simulation 43

Figure 33: Temperature Distribution for 1-D Simulation 44

Figure 34: Peak Temperature Region for 1-D simulation 45

Figure 35: Pressure vs. Temperature in Peak Region for 1-D Simulation 45

Figure 36: Adaptive Meshing Grid 49

Figure 37: Initialization region for Case 2 49

Figure 38: Expected ZND Profile for Case 2 50

Figure 39: Pressure Wave Propagation separated by 100 s 51

Figure 40: Pressure vs. X Location for Case 2 at 50s intervals for constant Y = 0.14 52

Figure 41: Temperature vs. X Location for Case 2 at 50s intervals for constant Y = 0.14 52

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Figure 42: Comparison of data measurement locations for Case 2 54

Figure 43: Pressure vs. X Location for Case 2 at 50s intervals behind shock 55

Figure 44: Temperature vs. X Location for Case 2 at 50s intervals behind Shock 55

Figure 45: Numerical evaluation of cell sizes for Case 2 57

Figure 46: Cell size measurements and comparison for Case 2 57

Figure 47: Low Frequency Tube Setup 60

Figure 48: Ethylene Cell Size vs. Equivalence Ratio 61

Figure 49: High Frequency Tube Experimental Setup 62

Figure 50: Interior Geometry for High Frequency Tube 63

Figure 51: High Frequency Tube Overview 63

Figure 52: High Frequency Tube Measurement Section 64

Figure 53: High Frequency Tube Interior Obstacle Configuration 64

Figure 54: Injection plate for High Frequency Tube 64

Figure 55: Expected Range of Detonation Velocities 65

Figure 56: Expected Range of Detonation Pressures 65

Figure 57: Low Frequency Tube pressure traces with Ethylene gas 69

Figure 58: Low Frequency Tube pressure traces with Propane gas 70

Figure 59: Maximum Pressure vs. Fill percentage trends for configuration I 72

Figure 60: Maximum pressure vs. Pulsing Frequency trends for configuration I 73

Figure 61: Maximum Pressure vs. Equivalence Ratio trends for configuration I 74

Figure 62: Velocity vs. Fill Percentage trends for configuration I 75

Figure 63: Velcoity vs. Frequency trends for configuration I 76

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Figure 64: Velocity vs. Equivalence ratio trends for configuration I 77

Figure 65: Typical Deflagration Sensor Traces 79

Figure 66: Typical Detonation Sensor Traces 80

Figure 67: Detonation Sensor traces at 350KS/s 82

Figure 68: Combustion Sensor Mounting 82

Figure 69: Spark Plug Electrode uncertainty 82

Figure 70: Normal distribution of measured Deotonation pressures 83

Figure 71: Normal distribution of all measured Detonation Velocities 84

Figure 72: Normal distribution of measured Detonation Velocities from Pressure Transducers 85

Figure 73: Normal distribution of measured Detonation Velocities from Ion Sensors 86

Figure 74: Normal distribution of Detonation Transition Times 87

Figure 75: Temperature (F) Distribution along Detonation Tube after testing 88

Figure 76: Thermal Imaging of Detonation Tube Transition Section 89

Figure 77: Thermal Imaging of Detonation Tube Measurement Section 89

Figure 78: Sound Levels (dBa) during testing near Detonation Tube 90

Figure 79: Frozen condensation on Pressure Regulator 92

Figure 80: Long Electrode Spark Plug 93

Figure 81: Density Gradient vs. Density 95

Figure 82: Adaptive Meshing Control 96

Figure 83: Labview Virtual Instrument 113

Figure 84: Input Control Panel for LabView VI 114

Figure 85: Data logging and Timing Panel for LabView VI 115

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Figure 86: Graph Output Panel 116

Figure 87: Fuel Control System 117

Figure 88: Spark Plug Ignition Control System 118

Figure 89: Mathscript Node for LabView VI 119

Figure 90: Ignition Control Wiring 120

Figure 91: Injector Wiring 120

Figure 92: Mass vs. Pulse Width curves for Propane 125

Figure 93: Mass vs. Pulse Width curves for Air 125

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Detonation vs. Deflagration properties burned/unburned gasses (2 p. 262) 3

Table 2: Typical Hydrocarbon Chapman-Jouguet Parameters (1 bar, 295K) 6

Table 3: Conditions for Validation Case 1 40

Table 4: CJ conditions for Case 1 40

Table 5: ZND Conditions for Case 1 40

Table 6: Wavespeed measurements for Case 1 44

Table 7: Numerical results comparison for 1-D simulation 46

Table 8: Initiation conditions for Case 2 49

Table 9: CJ Conditions for Case 2 50

Table 10: ZND Conditions for Case 2 50

Table 11: Post Detonation Conditions along X = 0.014 m 52

Table 12: Wavespeed measurements for Case 2 53

Table 13: Post Detonation Conditions behind Shock 55

Table 14: Wavespeed measurements and comparsion for Detonation and Deflagration 81

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NOMENCLATURE

Kj / mol

s-1

U(x) Uncertainty of variable x Varies

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1 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Detonation combustion research has traditionally been limited to single shot pulses of detonations

utilizing highly reactive mixtures such as hydrogen and oxygen due to the difficulty of initiating

a detonation, however any practical implementation would require a nearly steady or continuous

flow exiting the combustion chamber and combined with the utilization of common aviation and

transportation fuels. Due to the supersonic nature of detonation waves, the entire combustion

region must be filled and mixed prior to detonation which effectively determines the maximum

rate at which a detonation can be repeated. In this quasi steady flow, a device downstream of the

flow will experience periodic bursts of high amplitude pressure waves followed by nearly zero

gauge pressure (in some cases a vacuum). To mitigate this effect it is then necessary to minimize

the periodic nature by increasing the detonation cycle frequency. A device downstream of the flow

would then see an ever increasingly steady flow. Increasing the detonation cyclic frequency

depends on three primary variables: filling time, detonation transition time, and purging time.

Filling time and purging time are directly influenced by the internal volume of combustion

chamber and how fast “uniform” mixing can be achieved. Detonation transition time on the other

hand is affected by internal geometry, fuel and oxidizer selection, initial spark energy and ambient

conditions. For these reasons detonation transition time has the largest impact on detonation cycle

time. It is then the intent of the research to identify the chief variables that govern detonation

transition and overall filling time in an effort to achieve quasi-steady flow for integration into

more advanced designs applicable to propulsion and shaft power.

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2 BACKGROUND AND THEORY

Combustion can occur in two distinct modes, one is a deflagration and the other is detonation.

Each mode has its own characteristic behavior which differs radically in their respective final

thermodynamic states. Deflagration is typically what most people imagine when they think of

combustion and explosions; it is the subsonic, constant pressure consumption of reactants into

products resulting in a high temperature gas. A detonation is a violent supersonic combustion that

releases an incredible amount of energy in a rather short period. Detonation is commonly referred

to as knocking or pinging in traditional internal combustion engines and can lead to disastrous

consequences if left unchecked. In industrial situations, detonations can occur when gasses are

transported along extended lengths of pipes and can lead to accidental and sometimes fatal

explosions. In the aerospace industry however, the explosive power of detonations can be

harnessed for thrust or shaft power production.

2.1 Deflagration

Deflagration is the subsonic combustion of a fuel and oxidizer mixture usually producing a small

pressure drop with significant temperature increases. Deflagration can be modeled as an isobaric

process in most cases as the pressure loss that occurs during combustion is negligible. Deflagration

is typical in internal combustion engines (Otto and Diesel thermodynamic cycles) and aircraft

turbine engines (Brayton Cycle) and what is classically observed when a fuel and oxidizer is

ignited. The flame front or reaction usually propagates through its fuel mixture at a rate of nearly

1 m/s. If the combustion is confined to a closed volume, i.e. a cylinder, thermodynamics dictates

that there must be a corresponding increase in pressure from which mechanical work can be

extracted.

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2.2 Detonation

Detonation is the supersonic ignition of a combustible mixture where a shock wave is fueled by

an exothermic (heat generating) reaction. Detonation waves propagate at supersonic speeds on the

order of 2000 m/s. Detonations, which are modeled as a constant volume combustion (Humphrey

and Fickett-Jacobs thermodynamic cycles) produce a higher thermal efficiency (1.3 -1.5 times)

than that of a constant pressure combustion cycle at an equivalent pressure ratio and thus can

result in a similar increase in fuel efficiency provided that other mechanical and related

efficiencies can be maintained (1). The formation and propagation of a detonation wave compresses

the gas ahead of it causing a dramatic increase in pressure and temperature after the combustion

process. This process can be described by the one dimensional Chapman-Jouguet theory and the

ZND model.

Shown in Table 1 is a list of the quantitative differences between detonations and deflagrations. A

subscript of “u” designates properties of the unburned gas and a subscript of “b” denotes properties

of the burned gas. One can see that the Mach number of the wave front ( ⁄ ) is much higher

for detonations than deflagrations (5-10 vs. 0.0001 - 0.03) a similar trend is shown for pressure,

temperature, and density.

Table 1: Detonation vs. Deflagration properties burned/unburned gasses (2 p. 262)

Table 5.1 Qualitative Differences Between Detonations and Deflagration in Gases

Usual magnitude of Ratio

Ratio Detonation Deflagration

Uu/Cua 5-10 0.0001-0.03

Ub/uu 0.4-0.7 4-16

Pb/Pu 13-55 0.98-0.976

Tb/Tu 8-21 4-16

1.4-2.6 0.06-0.25

aCu is the acoustic velocity in the unburned gasses. Uu/Cu is the Mach number of the wave.

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2.3 Chapman-Jouguet Condition

Formulated by assuming that the detonation wave is steady, planar and one dimensional, the

Chapman-Jouguet (CJ) theory states that the flow behind the supersonic detonation wave travels

at sonic speed in reference to the combusted products, i.e. Mach 1 with respect to the gas mixture.

The CJ model has four main assumptions (3):

The detonation approaches a steady state.

The flow is laminar and one-dimensional.

The detonation products approach a state of chemical equilibrium some distance behind the

detonation front.

The detonation velocity is the minimum permitted by the conservation conditions.

Figure 1: Control volume used in CJ Model (4)

The CJ model uses a control volume surrounding a planar shock wave to determine the gas

dynamic properties after the wave from those before it. A Hugoniot relationship is used to

determine the region of possible solutions for a steady detonation wave. The information, plotted

on a P - diagram shown in Figure 2, is representative of these solutions. The dashed lines that

are tangent to Hugoniot curve represent the Rayleigh line and where they intersect is called the

Chapman-Jouguet point with the upper representing the detonative region and the lower

representing the deflagrative region.

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Figure 2: Hugoniot Curve for CJ Theory (4)

The properties for the CJU point are as follows and are normally found through an iterative

calculation process. The CJ conditions can be easily calculated and plotted for most gasses using

the CEA (Chemical Equilibrium w/ Applications) program referenced in this research.

( )

(

)

(

)

( )

Where √

and ( )

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Table 2 below shows some sample data for hydrogen, ethylene and propane. On average, air-fuel

mixtures produce a significantly lower pressure and temperature ratio as well as lower detonation

velocities when compared to oxygen-fuel mixtures although both result in pressure and

temperature ratios ten or more times greater than ambient conditions.

Table 2: Typical Hydrocarbon Chapman-Jouguet Parameters (1 bar, 295K)

Mixture P/P1 T/T1 /1 MCJ UCJ (m/s)

Hydrogen-Air (H2) 15.8 10 1.8 4.9 1965

Methane-Air (CH4) 17.4 9.4 1.8 5.1 1800

Propane-Air (C3H8) 18.4 9.6 1.8 5.3 1796

Ethylene-Air (C2H4) 18.5 9.6 1.8 5.3 1821

Acetylene-Air (C2H2) 19.3 10.6 1.8 5.4 1864

Hydrogen-O2 (H2) 19.0 12.5 1.8 5.3 2836

Methane-O2 (CH4) 29.6 12.6 1.9 6.8 2390

Ethylene-O2 (C2H4) 33.8 13.3 1.9 7.3 2374

Acetylene-O2 (C2H2) 34.2 14.3 1.8 7.4 2426

Propane-O2 (C3H8) 36.6 13 1.9 7.7 2357

2.4 ZND Model

The Zel’dovich-von Neumann-Döring model features a shock wave traveling at the Chapman-

Jouguet (CJ) velocity followed by a thin reaction zone. The conditions behind the leading shock

wave differ from the CJ final equilibrium conditions in that the pressure and density are much

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higher than that of a CJ detonation wave while temperature tends to be much lower. The ZND

structure is shown quantitatively in Figure 4.

P/P1 T/T1 /1

Hydrogen-Air (ZND) 27.4 5.1 5.4

Hydrogen-Air (CJ) 15.8 10.0 1.8

Figure 3: ZND vs. CJ properties

Figure 4: Physical properties of the 1-D Detonation Wave Structure

The planar shock wave brings the gas to the post-shock, or von Neumann, state followed by a

planar wave. The ZND model assumes that the flow is one-dimensional, and models the shock

wave as a discontinuity, neglecting transport effects (diffusion, conduction, etc.). Zel’dovich, von

Neumann, and Döring proposed that the detonation wave could be viewed as three distinct regions

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whose widths are dependent on the mixture equivalence ratio and the chemical kinetics of the gas

mixture in which the detonation wave is propagating.

The first region, the shock wave, has a width of just a few tenths of a nanometer, yet delivers a

tremendous amount of energy into the unburned reactants. This energy input results in immediate

and dramatic increases in pressure, density and temperature that increase the chemical reaction

rates and enhance the energy release phase of the wave structure.

The deflagration region consists of two zones that dictate the final conditions of detonation wave.

The first, which is known as the induction zone, is the region in which the chemical reaction rates

are insignificant and have not produced an appreciable change in thermodynamic state. The

induction zone transitions to the reaction zone when the reaction rate begins to increase

exponentially, drastically raising temperatures while stabilizing pressure and density to their final

equilibrium value. The total width of the three zones is on the order of a few centimeters and

varies with fuel type and fuel equivalence ratio. Each zone is dependent on the previous zone

ahead of it to sustain the detonation wave.

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2.5 Detonation Waves

In a self-sustaining detonation, the shock and reaction zone propagate with a nearly identical speed

that is approximated by the Chapman-Jouguet (CJ) theory. The ZND theory is often used to

represent the one dimensional detonation structure although in reality its structure is anything but.

The detonation wave has a complex 3D structure which is the result of transverse shock waves

that propagate behind the leading normal shock wave. The intersection of the transverse waves

with the leading normal shock wave results in localized high-pressure, high-temperature regions

known as triple points (Figure 6). The extreme heating that occurs at these points greatly accelerate

the local reaction rates and ensures that the heat release region is closely coupled to the leading

normal shock wave. The rapid oscillation of the triple points across the leading shock wave

promotes the stability of the detonation wave and results in the characteristic “fish scale” patterns

(5) that can be seen on soot images and walls of detonation tubes.

Figure 5: Soot image of detonation propagation (H2 + O2) (4)

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Detonation Wave Formation

In the instant immediately preceding the onset of a detonation wave, a detonation kernel (a

miniature explosion) occurs, which cause a blast wave that accelerates the local reaction rate and

leads to the formation of an unstable detonation wave. This explosion can either occur as an

interaction between the leading shock and the flame, at the flame front, at the shock front, or at

the merging of shock waves that precede the flame. The occurrence of a localized explosion

generates a strong shock wave travelling back through the burnt reactants, referred to as a

retonation wave which can in some case reflect and merge with the leading shock front. If the

initial shock wave is strong enough then the accompanied rise in temperature may be able to

trigger auto ignition behind the shock front. Once the auto ignition has occurred a stable detonation

can be formed in which the shock waves are sustained by the energy of the chemical reaction that

has been initiated by shock compression and heating.

Detonation Propagation

Detonation propagation in a confined tube will continue as long as there is enough unburned

reactants ahead of it and no radical geometry changes occur. Detonation waves expanding abruptly

into a large area however behave differently than those propagating in confined spaces. When a

detonation wave propagates from a confined tube into an unconfined space, it has to overcome the

sharp corners and one of three outcomes occur. In the supercritical regime, detonations

successfully transmit into the unconfined space when the energy release rate overcomes the effects

of the expansion waves. The subcritical regime is where a complete detonation failure occurs as

the shock decouples from the reaction zone and the detonation continues as a shock wave followed

by a deflagration. The critical regime is seen to occur when the detonation wave initially fails but

detonation wave re-initiation is observed due to shock interactions produced by the transverse

waves travelling through the mixture. (6)

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2.6 Detonation Cells

Figure 6: Schematic of Detonation Cell

A detonation wave form cells as it travels leaving behind the characteristic "fish scale" pattern

seen in Figure 5. These are formed by the oscillations of the triple point region occurring between

the leading shock and the transverse waves. Figure 6 above is a depiction of that pattern with

major features labeled. The cell width is the maximum distance between triple points and is

representative of the sensitivity of the mixture to detonation. Mixtures with small cell widths are

more sensitive and likely to detonate than mixtures with larger cell widths. The cell width of a

mixture is generally determined experimentally through the use of soot foil traces like in Figure

7, laser shadowgraphs, or schlieren photographs.

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Figure 7: Soot foil device for visualization

The cell size can be approximated by the formula where is the induction zone length and

is an empirical proportionality constant. The proportionality constant varies strongly with the

equivalence ratio, between 10 and 50 for common fuel-air mixtures at stoichiometric conditions,

and between 2 and 100 for off-stoichiometric mixtures. The cell size of a mixture increases with

decreasing initial pressure and increases with lower oxygen mass fraction which in turn makes

fuel-air mixtures less sensitive than fuel-oxygen mixtures. A plot of cell size vs. equivalence ratio

exhibits a U-shaped curved typical of many detonation trends and is shown in Figure 8. In

descending order of detonation sensitivity (lowest to highest cell size):

1. C2H2 (acetylene)

2. H2 (hydrogen)

3. C2H4 (ethylene)

4. C3H8 (propane)

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5. C2H6 (ethane)

6. C4H10 (butane)

7. CH4 (methane)

Many of the “dynamic parameters” of detonations are largely affected by the cell size and because

it is one of the most readily observable aspects of the wave, it is used in empirical relations for

critical tube diameter, critical energy and minimum tube diameter. As a general rule it is necessary

to have a minimum tube diameter on the order of 1/3 the cell width for air fuel mixtures

propagation unimpeded and at least 1 cell with for obstacle filled tubes.

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Figure 8: Cell size vs. Equivalence Ratio (14)

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2.7 Thermodynamic Cycles

Typical internal combustion engines and gas turbine engines use constant pressure combustion

cycles. Detonations are attributed with an increase in pressure during combustion while

maintaining a constant volume. The Humphrey cycle and Fickett-Jacobs cycle both model

detonations as a constant volume combustion process but differ in overall thermal efficiency and

theoretical work output.

Humphrey Cycle

The Humphrey cycle is generally the most frequently used to estimate the thermal efficiency of a

PDE because it is essentially the Brayton cycle modified for a constant volume compression

process. Shown below in Figure 9 and Figure 10 are the PV and TS diagrams for the Brayton and

Humphrey cycles.

An ideal Humphrey cycle with states 0-1-2-3-0 can be divided into the following segments:

(0-1) Compression

(1-2) Detonation

(2-3) Expansion

(3-0) Exhaust

Figure 9: PV diagram for Humphrey Cycle (1)

Figure 10: TS diagram for Humphrey Cycle (1)

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Humphrey Cycle Thermal Efficiency (

) [

( )

( )

] (1)

Brayton Cycle Thermal Efficiency ( )

Referencing the preceding equations one can notice that the difference between the Humphrey

and Brayton thermal efficiencies is a single group of terms which is always less than one leading

to the conclusion that for equivalent ratios of temperature and specific heat a Humphrey Cycle

will always have a higher thermal efficiency.

Fickett-Jacobs Cycle

The FJ cycle is based on the piston-cylinder analogy used commonly in thermodynamics and

based on the works of Fickett and Davis in "Detonation Theory and Experiment" and Jacobs in

"The Energy of Detonation". It dictates the

Figure 11: PV diagram for Fickett-Jacobs Cycle (7) Figure 12: FJ Thermal Efficiency (7)

From reference (7) the thermal efficiency of the cycle is:

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[

(

)

]

Where √ √ and ( )

Figure 13: Physical Steps that make up the Fickett-Jacobs Cycle (7)

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1. The cycle starts with the system at the initial state. (State 1).

2. Reactants are isentropically compressed. ⁄ . (State 2).

3. External work to move the piston on the left at velocity up instantaneously initiates a

detonation front at the piston surface.

4. Detonation propagates to the right and the detonation products following the wave are in a

uniform state at a velocity up. (State 3).

5. Energy of this mechanical motion is converted to external work (step e) by adiabatically

and reversibly bringing the detonation products to rest maintaining the distance between

the two pistons. (State 4.)

6. Then the products are isentropically expanded to the initial pressure. (State 5).

7. Heat is extracted by reversibly cooling the products at constant pressure. (State 6).

8. Cycle is completed by converting products (State 6) to reactants (State 1) at constant

temperature and pressure.

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3 PULSE DETONATION ENGINE DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

3.1 Oxidizer and Fuel Selection

Selections of a fuel and oxidizer affect net thrust or work produced by a PDE cycle due to the

large variation in detonation velocities, compression ratios, and temperatures produced by various

types of fuels. It is typically best to use gaseous form reactants because of their lower detonation

energy requirements although liquid fuels can be used if atomized prior to ignition. Even after

atomization though, liquid fuels would require more power from a direct ignition system or a

longer deflagration-to-detonation transition section. As shown in Figure 8, Figure 16 and

Figure 17, there is a strong dependence on stoichiometric ratio for cell size, initiation charge, and

critical tube diameter. It is thus important to ensure stoichiometric or near stoichiometric fuel

balances entering the combustion chamber.

3.2 Detonation Initiation

Detonation initiation is currently one of the most critical problems in contemporary PDE

development. Initiation of a detonation requires significantly more input energy than that of

deflagration. For detonations there exists a critical initiation energy for which it is the smallest

amount of energy deposition that will cause a direct initiation of a detonation.

A detonation will be initiated if the energy release couples with the generated shock waves. If

energy release occurs too far behind the shock wave or if the shock waves are weak, a detonation

will not be initiated and result in a deflagration with modest pressure increases. There are generally

two types of initiation modes, direct initiation and detonation transition. Direct initiation is usually

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caused by blast waves created by rapid energy addition either from the discharge of solid or

gaseous explosives, exploding wires or high energy spark discharges. Detonation transition is

usually carried out by means of flame acceleration via obstacle-wave interaction.

Spark Initiation

Many experimental direct initiation tests are conducted through the use of solid explosives and are

based on the equivalent mass of explosive tetryl (C7H5N5O8) with a blast energy value of 4.2

MJ/kg. Varying the amount of explosive material can then be used to equate the energy required

for direct ignition to other methods of initiation. For "sensitive mixtures" like ethylene the required

energy can be in the tens of kilojoules and less sensitive mixtures can scale up to the hundreds or

even thousands of kilojoules. Direct initiation of detonation then can require very large power

input for high cycle frequencies.

Confinement by tubes or channels will decrease the critical energy required since blast waves

decay more slowly when compared to unconfined cases. Increasing initial pressure or temperature

will also slow the decay and reduce critical energy requirements. Experimental result have shown

that critical initiation energy is observed to scale as follows (8):

Increase with the cube of the induction zone length (l) or detonation cell width ( ) for

spherical geometry.

Increase with the square for cylindrical geometry

Increase linearly for pseudo-planar geometry

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Spherical detonations are typically encountered when using spark ignitions sources, cylindrical

with exploding wire discharges, and planar when using a planar detonation initiation device.

Figure 14: Planar Detonation Wave through use of a Planar Initiator (9)

Figure 15: Cylindrical Detonation

In detonation transition, a detonation wave can be created either by deflagration-to-detonation

transition (DDT) or shock-to-detonation transition (SDT). DDT employs the use of obstacles in

the path of combustion wave to accelerate it to CJ velocity. SDT uses directed or focused

shockwaves along with obstacles to initiate a detonation wave. Detonation transition generally

requires a large pre-detonation section or transition section for a self-sustaining wave to form and

can be impractical for many applications.

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In general, detonation initiation (direct or through transition) is sensitive to the following

conditions:

Detonation Cell Size ( A function of the fuel and oxidizer combination)

Initial Temperature

Initial Pressure

Geometrical cross-sectional area

Wall porosity

Figure 16 and

Figure 17 following show a characteristic U-shaped dependence on equivalence ratio for

detonation energy and critical tube diameter.

Figure 16: Critical Energy vs. Equivalence Ratio

(Tetryl: 4.2kJ/g) (10)

Figure above using spherical strong blast theory;

( )

Figure 17: Critical Tube diameter vs. Equivalence

Ratio (Dc = 13λ) (10)

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Spark ignition

Direct initiation is typically instigated by means of spark ignition or other electrical discharge.

The igniter must be able to initiate a detonation wave before the shockwave decays. If the spark

energy is below the critical energy, the blast wave generated will eventually separate from the

reaction front and decay into a sound wave resulting in an ordinary deflagration. In Lee’s

“Initiation of Gaseous Detonation” (11) he noted that the “critical energy decreases with the

duration of the energy release” and “only the energy released before the igniter attains maximum

power is important in the initiation process”. One reason he is cited for these observations was

that “for very small electrode spacing, the losses to the electrodes become important, and the

critical energy sharply [increases] to compensate for the losses.” These conclusions can be seen in

Figure 18 and Figure 19 below.

Figure 19: Critical Energy vs. Spark Gap Length (11)

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Figure 18: Critical energy vs. Discharge time (11)

Calculation of the direct initiation is very much an empirical science and while formulas do exist,

many still rely on equipment, specific data and correlations to predict critical initiation energy.

Traditionally, empirical equations are used to predict the general magnitude of the energy required

(100 J, 101 J, 102 J, etc.) and then experiments are carried out to determine whether or not

detonation was successful. One formula as described by Radelescu (12) is shown in the next

section. Detailed critical energy data can be found online via the web at California Institute of

Technology Explosion Dynamics Laboratory’s (EDL) homepage (13).

Deflagration to Detonation Transition (DDT)

In some situations the energy required for direct initiation of detonation may be prohibitively high.

This can be due to large combustion chamber sizes, particularly insensitive fuel choices, very low

temperature conditions, or low pressures. Deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) and shock-

to-detonation transition (SDT) are two methods commonly employed to achieve the detonation

with significantly reduced energy requirements. In some cases an overdriven detonation wave,

one that propagates at a speed greater than the speed of a CJ detonation wave, can also be used to

reduce the critical diameter requirement needed for successful transition of a detonation wave

from a tube of small diameter to a tube of larger diameter. (14)

Critical conditions for DDT require that the cell width be smaller than a specified fraction of the

tube or obstacle dimensions, the expansion ratio (ratio of burned to unburned gas volume) must

be larger than a minimum value, and that the deflagration speed exceed a minimum threshold. For

simple situations, transition to detonation is possible only if the detonation cell width is smaller

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than the tube diameter (unobstructed tube) or smaller than the obstacles' aperture (obstructed tube).

For a successful transfer of a detonation wave from one section to a larger or essentially

unconfined volume, there exists a critical tube diameter which is generally accepted to be on the

order of thirteen times the detonation cell width (13λ), (though in some cases it can be higher).

In DDT a subsonic combustion wave (deflagration or flame) is accelerated to a supersonic

combustion wave (detonation). The DDT process can be divided into four phases as described in

(15):

Deflagration initiation - A relatively weak energy source such as an electric spark is used to

create a flame.

Flame acceleration - Increasing energy release rate and the formation of strong shock waves

are caused by flame acceleration.

Formation and amplification of explosion centers - One or more localized explosion centers

form as pockets of reactants reach critical ignition. The explosion centers create small blast

waves which rapidly amplify in the surrounding mixture.

Formation of a detonation wave. The amplified blast waves and existing shock-reaction

zone complex merge into a supersonic detonation front which is self-sustaining.

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Methods of Flame Acceleration

The exact physics of flame acceleration are unknown yet recent work into studying detonation

transitions has yielded a new explanation of the role that obstacles play in flame acceleration.

Simulations from (16) and (17) showed that the deflagration propagates along the unobstructed

center of the orifice plates leaving the mixture between orifice plates untouched near the wall. Gas

expansion due to delayed burning in the pockets produces a jet flow in the unobstructed part of

the tube. This jet flow allows the flame tip to propagate faster which then produces new pockets

and creates a chain reaction leading to flame acceleration. The simulation also showed a strong

reduction in the acceleration rate with higher initial flow Mach numbers and mitigation of flame

acceleration was observed as soon as the flame speed became comparable to the gas speed of

sound.

Shchelkin Spiral

Figure 20: Shchelkin Spiral Concept

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The Schelkin spiral named after Russian physicist Kirill Ivanovich Shchelkin proposed in "Gas

Dynamics of Combustion". The effectiveness of the spiral is based on its blockage ratio which is

the area of the cross section cover by spring divided by total internal area of cross section.

Figure 21: Shchelkin Spiral after testing (18)

The Aerodynamic Research Center (ARC) at the University of Texas at Arlington tested pulse

detonation equipment to produce thrust utilizing Shchelkin spirals of different dimensions and in

tubes of different lengths to measure its effectiveness. Tables of the experiments and graphs of the

results can be found in (18). As a result, it was concluded that shorter PDEs, which can run at

higher frequencies due to their shorter filling times, may use shorter Shchelkin spirals with higher

BRs to achieve detonations. Longer PDEs, which have higher filling times and hence can’t run at

higher frequencies, can achieve successful detonation using spirals with smaller BRs and

increased lengths. (18)

According to Kuhl, Leyer and Borisov, the mechanism by which transition was facilitated was

credited to the generation of turbulence by the obstacles, promoting flame acceleration by

increasing the surface area of the flame front. However, more recent experiments have

demonstrated that it is due to the effect of pressure waves generated by the obstacles rather than

turbulent flame wrinkling. Shchelkin spirals when inserted into PDEs causes a reduction in the

efficiency of exhausting the burnt gas and introducing new the fresh mixture. Furthermore, these

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obstacles are generally attached to the tube walls and are thus not suitable for large-diameter tubes

where the delay in development of turbulence causes a reduction in flame acceleration. Practical

implementation of these devices is also limited as reconfiguring obstacle geometry is difficult and

time consuming and have limited lifespans as demonstrated in Figure 21.

Orifice Plates

Similar to the Schelkin spiral, orifice plates introduce flow blockage cause turbulence and pressure

perturbations that can trigger a transition to detonation. Orifice plates have the advantage of being

much more resilient than spirals. In general orifice plates can be of stronger construction while

maintaining the same blockage ratio, additionally spacing and inner diameter are much easier to

modify than schelkin spirals. It is for these reasons that most recent detonation transition studies

utilize series of orifice plates to induce a detonation wave.

Pre-Detonator

Another common approach for detonation involves the utilization of an “initiator” which contains

a highly detonable fuel/oxygen mixture to generate a strong detonation that propagates into a less

sensitive mixture. Another reason to have a pre-detonator is to use fuels that are already regulated

and accepted in the industry but do not easily detonate. However the use or onboard storage of

highly reactive gases is prohibited or impractical in many situations.

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Initiators or pre-detonator units work as follows: a deflagration is initiated in a small-diameter

detonation chamber usually filled with a fuel-oxygen mixture which then undergoes a rapid

transition to detonation. The detonation wave then exits from the small chamber into a larger

diameter filled with a less sensitive mixture. If the new diameter is larger than the critical tube

diameter of the mixture or roughly 13 times the cell width than a stable detonation wave will

continue to propagate in the larger tube or reinitiate itself farther down the tube.

Transient Plasma Ignition (TPI)

In TPI, a pseudo-spark discharges in tens of nanoseconds time scale to generate a power blast

wave that will detonate highly insensitive mixtures when used in conjunction with DDT. The

amount of power required though makes this method more impractical than a direct spark ignition.

The transient plasma pulse generator outlined in (19) was designed to deliver pulses of 70 kV to

100 kV with currents ranging between 450 A and 600 A, all within 50 to 100 nanoseconds.

Results from (19) showed that the TPI system was more effective than conventional spark ignition

systems resulting a nearly 20% improvement in DDT distances and up-to 2.5 reduction factor in

DDT times. In addition, at high flow rates, where the flames normally extinguished itself using

the spark ignition system, the TPI system was able to ignite mixtures and effectively initiate

detonation waves. Detonation initiation success rates greater than 94% were obtained at cycle

frequencies of up-to 40Hz. (19)

Shock to Detonation transition (SDT)

Shock to detonation transition (SDT) uses shock wave focusing to create a region of high pressure

and temperature that is capable of initiating insensitive fuel-air mixtures. In shock wave focusing,

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this high-energy density region is generated by a converging wave or by the collision of two or

more shock waves (20). Two examples are shown below, a planar initiator and toroidal. The planar

concept is more or less a proof of concept device while the toroidal is an advanced implementation

of the planar concept. One can notice that the toroidal initiator is simply a planar initiator with its

pattern around a cylinder.

Figure 22: Dynamic Planar Initiator

Figure 23: Dynamic Toroidal Initiator

The toroidal initiator works by first filling it with a detonable mixture and then igniting by a

relatively weak spark (mJ). The ignited gas / flame front undergoes DDT carried out by a series

of miniature obstacles that result in the creation of a detonation wave. The detonation wave is

directed through the channels then deflected inward toward the test section where the wave

continues to propagate as an imploding detonation wave (see Figure 24 below) similar to the

predetonator.

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Figure 24: Chemiluminescence Images of Toroidal Initiator (9)

Crossover Branching

Figure 25: Crossover Detonation Tube Internal Configuration

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Detonation branching via crossover tube is a setup in which a propagating detonation initiated in

the donor tube via the methods mentioned above and transferred to the receiving tube through a

small crossover tube. In this setup both tubes have a stable detonation wave propagating towards

the end of the tube at slightly delayed intervals.

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4 PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF DETONATION THEORY

4.1 Overview

Figure 26: Configuration of a typical thrust producing PDE (21)

Pulse detonation engines (PDE) operate through the use of supersonic combustion rather than

subsonic combustion of its fuel. The speed of combustion refers to the speed of flame propagation

through a combustible mixture. Pulse Detonation engines have gained much appeal in recent

years, particularly in the aerospace field where simplified mechanical operation and lower

operational weight have been the principal motivators. The majority of research into detonation is

being conducted by universities under direct funding from government agencies such as the

Department of Energy (DOE), and the military (USAF, Navy). Applications in aerospace

propulsion have thus far operated on the basis of cyclic detonation of fuel and air to produce thrust.

A detonation based engine has the potential to create high compression ratios (~15-20) from

combustion alone without the use of rotary blades or moving pistons, while simultaneously using

less fuel. Because of this, applications in other areas such shaft power production and supersonic

combustors for scramjet vehicles, show promise as well. Currently, there are no production

vehicles or engines in use today, with the exception of a modified Rutan Long-EZ with an

operating frequency of 80 Hz that flew for 10 seconds under its own power at a height of 100 ft.

and produced 200 lbf of thrust.

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A typical setup as shown in Figure 26 involves the use a cylindrical tube to serve as the combustion

chamber, fuel and oxygen feed lines and an ignition source. A typical detonation cycle is as

follows: (1)

The detonation combustion chamber is filled with an oxidizer/fuel mixture. This is typically

air (or oxygen) for the oxidizer and fuel is generally a simple hydrocarbon based fuel (CH4,

C2H2, C3H8, JP10, etc.)

Detonation is initiated at the ‘closed’ end of the combustor by some method.

The detonation wave propagates through the combustor and exits and the open end.

The burned gases in the combustor are exhausted.

Pulsed detonation Engines are cyclic in nature which means that the process is characterized as

unsteady and its performance and efficiency are dependent on its operating frequency, or the

number of pulses per second. In general, higher thrust and energy are produced at higher operating

frequencies. The maximum operating frequency is determined by the time necessary for the

engine to complete the detonation process laid out above. Most advanced research PDE’s operate

in the range of 50-100 Hz or 10-20 ms per cycle (22) using oxygen. The specific cycle time is

determined by the mechanical properties of the device (how fast purge air can be introduced,

mixing times, detonation method, etc.) and the chemical properties of the oxidizer and fuel

combination (critical detonation energy, detonation velocity, etc.).

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4.2 Existing Designs

Valved Pulsed Detonation Engines

Of the test engines in development today, many of them fall in to the category of using a valved

thrust wall. That is to say that when detonation is initiated, one end of the combustion chamber is

closed while the other is open. The valved design simplifies the combustion process because a

simple rotary plate or solenoid can be used to shut off flow of the reactants to the combustion

chamber, completely prevent back flow and acting as a thrust wall. A drawback of a valved design

implementation is that its simplified operation also limits the maximum effective cycle frequency,

as many mechanical parts may not be able to operate at the higher frequencies necessary for

commercial applications of PDEs. In addition, longevity and durability are also an issue as any

valved system will generally take the full force of the detonation wave expansion when acting as

the thrust wall.

Valveless Pulsed Detonation Engines

The primary issue with any valve-less design is to effectively minimize or prevent back flow when

detonation is initiated. Two experimental designs are shown below utilizing different schemes for

valveless operation; Brophy’s method employed the use of ‘sufficiently high’ air pressure and a

choke point located somewhere within the isolator section to prevent blast waves from propagating

backward. Shimo and Heister successfully used what they called a ‘fluid diode’ which “emulates

an aerodynamic check valve providing the lowest possible resistance to inflow and the highest

possible resistance to backflow.” (23)

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Figure 27: Valveless PDE Design by Brophy et al. (24)

Figure 28: Valve-less PDE by Shimo & Heister (23)

Rotating Detonation Engines (RDE)

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The rotating detonation engine is fundamentally different from traditional detonation engines in

that is does not rely on pulsed combustion but rather a continuously rotating detonation wave. In

this setup fuel and oxidizer are injected axially into the chamber and ignited by a detonation wave

travelling circumferentially around the core section. The design shown above currently in testing

by the Air Force Research Laboratory uses a modular design in which each individual section can

be varied to suit different fuel / air configurations and filling methods. The oxidizer spacer height

and number of injection ports can be varied to control the mass flow rate of air / oxygen delivered.

The fuel injection plate can have the size, number, and array of fuel inlet holes varied to control

overall mass flow rate. Finally, the center body can be swapped for different size diameters to

control the channel width to accommodate varying cell sizes of different fuels. This configuration

has the ability to provide continuous detonation level pressure at the exhaust if a stable detonation

can be maintained. A detonation still has to be initiated externally and then directed into the

channel but does not require continuous pulsing.

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5 NUMERICAL ANALYSIS

5.1 Case Studies

Several numerical analyses were performed on detonation phenomena to gauge the current

capabilities of commercial computational fluid dynamics solvers. ANSYS Fluent software has

been chosen for use in the following studies because of its robustness, scalability, and availability,

at the time of writing the latest version is ANSYS Fluent 14.0. Two case studies are used to verify

the software’s capability, a 1-Dimensional analysis and a 2-Dimensional Analysis. A 3-

Dimensional simulation was not performed due to computational cost and limited resources

available. The end results of these validation studies are to provide the basis for simulating

detonation events in innovative and unconventional types for qualitative analysis.

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5.2 Validation Case 1: 1-Dimensional Detonation Propagation

Based on reference (25), “Numerical Investigation of Detonation in Premixed Hydrogen –Air

Mixture- Assessment of Simplified Chemical Mechanisms” and simulates a lean hydrogen air

mixture propagation through an open ended tube. The main objective of the 1-D simulation was

to determine if ANSYS Fluent was able to accurately calculate CJ and ZND detonation conditions

using simplifying assumptions. The grid is setup as a uniform structured grid with 10-4 meter

spacing and divided in two flow domains. An initial thin region of reacted gases is patched near

the left closed end to initiate the detonation wave and a lean mixture of hydrogen and air is

initialized in the remainder of the tube for detonation propagation. The lean mixture was chosen

because of its effect on increasing the induction zone length and trying to resolve the ZND

conditions of the detonation wave. The condition for both regions are shown below in Table 3 and

Table 4. All solid boundaries were set as adiabatic walls with the outlet set as a standard pressure

outlet with one atm absolute back pressure. To compare to with CJ detonation theory, turbulence

modelling was set to laminar. The reaction set was chosen to be a global one step mechanism to

save computational resources.

Figure 29: Initial Conditions for Case 1

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Setup and initialization

Table 3: Conditions for Validation Case 1

Initial Conditions (Unburned Gas)

1 atm Initial Pressure

298 K Initial Temperature

1.314 % H2 Mass Fraction

22.99 % O2 Mass Fraction

75.69 % N2 Mass Fraction

0.000 % H2O Mass Fraction

Initial Conditions (Ignition Region)

30 atm Initial Pressure

3000 K Initial Temperature

0 H2 Mass Fraction

0 O2 Mass Fraction

0 N2 Mass Fraction

1 H2O Mass Fraction

Table 4: CJ conditions for Case 1

Chapman-Jouguet Detonation Conditions (CJ)

P2/P1 11.05 Pressure Ratio

T2/T1 6.95 Temperature Ratio

UCJ 1556.7 m/s Detonation Velocity

Table 5: ZND Conditions for Case 1

Post Shock Conditions (Von Nuemann)

Pvn/P1 20.05 Post Shock Pressure

Tvn/T1 4.042 Post Shock Temperature

i 10.7 mm Induction Zone Length

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An

Figure 30: Expected ZND Profile for Case 1

Results

Once the solution was fully developed and sufficiently along the tube certain trends started to

emerge and the thermodynamic properties of interest such peak pressures and temperatures, and

reaction zone propagation could be determined.

Pressure

Peak and steady state pressure was shown to be roughly constant after the wave had traveled

approximately 50 mm from the end wall and its trend is shown in Figure 31. Peak Pressure hovered

around 17.25 atm rapidly trailing off and to CJ level pressures in approximately 5 mm eventually

reaching an expanded gas state at around 3.3 atm. For the shown timestep this peak value happens

at x = 0.200 meters which also corresponds to the maximum rate of reaction. Figure 32 shows a

zoomed in region with the kinetic rate of reactions for the global 1-step mechanism superimposed

on top.

0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

2200

Distance; = 0.0107 m

Te

mp

era

ture

Final T = 2078.2 K; Max T = 2104.1 K

0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012

10

12

14

16

18

20

Distance

Pre

ssu

re

Final P = 11 atm; Max P = 20.1 atm

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Figure 31: Pressure Distribution for 1-D simulation

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.50

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

X Location (m)

Pre

ssu

re (

atm

)

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Figure 32: Peak Pressure Region for 1-D simulation

Wavespeed

Wavespeed was calculated by measuring the time it took the peak pressure wave to pass through

several different locations then calculating its average speed with simple kinematics. The resulting

average of speeds from 5cm to 45 cm away from the end wall was found to be approximately

1570 m/s which happens to be very near to the CJ value of 1557 m/s.

0.195 0.196 0.197 0.198 0.199 0.2 0.201 0.202 0.203 0.204 0.2050

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

X Location (m)

Pre

ssu

re (

atm

)

0.195 0.196 0.197 0.198 0.199 0.2 0.201 0.202 0.203 0.204

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

x 104

X Location (m)

Ra

te o

f R

ea

ctio

n

Pressure Reaction

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Table 6: Wavespeed measurements for Case 1

D (m) t (s) Velocity (m/s)

0.05 0.0000307 ----

0.100 0.0000621 1592

0.150 0.0000941 1563

0.200 0.0001257 1582

0.250 0.0001575 1572

0.300 0.0001894 1567

0.350 0.0002214 1563

0.400 0.0002535 1558

0.450 0.0002855 1563

Temperature

The temperature distribution showed the same trend as the pressure distribution, sharply rising to

a peak and then trailing off to a constant value. The large discontinuous jump near the end wall (x

= 0) is the expansion of the initial high temperature ignition region used to simulate the detonation

ignition. The temperature corresponding to the peak pressure at x = 0.2002 meters is

approximately 1695 K and settles to a near CJ Value within 5 mm.

Figure 33: Temperature Distribution for 1-D Simulation

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.50

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

X Location (m)

Te

mp

era

ture

(K

)

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45

Figure 34: Peak Temperature Region for 1-D simulation

Figure 35: Pressure vs. Temperature in Peak Region for 1-D Simulation

0.195 0.196 0.197 0.198 0.199 0.2 0.201 0.202 0.203 0.204 0.2050

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

X Location (m)

Te

mp

era

ture

(K

)

0.195 0.196 0.197 0.198 0.199 0.2 0.201 0.202 0.203 0.204

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

x 104

X Location (m)

Ra

te o

f R

ea

ctio

n

ReactionTemperature

0.195 0.196 0.197 0.198 0.199 0.2 0.201 0.202 0.203 0.204 0.2050

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

X Location (m)

Pre

ssu

re (

atm

)

0.195 0.196 0.197 0.198 0.199 0.2 0.201 0.202 0.203 0.204

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

X Location (m)

Te

mp

era

ture

(K

)

TemperaturePressure

Page 62: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

46

Simulation vs. Theory

If one were to assume that the point where reaction go to zero as the end of the detonation wave

then we can approximate this as the location where we would expect to find the CJ conditions. In

Figure 32 and Figure 34 these point is around 0.198 meters. The resultant pressure and temperature

at these points is 10.97 atm and 2136 K.

Table 7: Numerical results comparison for 1-D simulation

X (m) Pressure (atm) Temperature (K) Velocity (m/s)

0.2002 17.25 1695.13 1570

0.1980 10.97 2136.61 1570

Pvn (atm) Tvn (K)

20.05 1212.49

PCJ (atm) TCJ (K) UCJ (m/s)

11.05 2084.22 1557

Comparing the CJ values at the approximated CJ point with theoretical analysis yields a -0.7 %

difference for pressure, 2.5% difference for temperature, and a 0.8% difference for detonation

velocity. However comparing the post shock conditions reveals that -14% difference in pressure

and 38% difference in temperature. This is also readily seen in the pressure and temperature plots

as there is no define ZND structure evident (recall Figure 4: Physical properties of the 1-D

Detonation Wave Structure). In Figure 32 we can see within the resolution of the cell size that the

discontinuous jump signaling the detonation wave happens at the same point for the reaction and

pressure waves and that they reach a maximum at the same point. In the ZND model we would

expect an induction period after the shock where there are no reactions occurring. Similarly for

the temperature in Figure 34 we see the discontinuity occurring at the same point. The temperature

increase that would be associated with the reaction zone occurs after the majority of the reaction

has completed rather than coincidentally.

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47

It can be concluded then base on the findings above that the 1-Dimensional model is useful in

simulating stable CJ conditions for a propagating wave but not determining its structure. This

method of simulation would then be useful in creating a stable detonation for entering into

complex geometries in which only detonation entrance conditions are necessary such as the inlet

to a turbine or nozzle.

Page 64: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

48

5.3 Validation Case 2: 2-Dimensional Propagation

Case 2 based on reference (26) by Taylor, Kessler, Gamezo, and Oran, evaluates the transient

propagation of a detonation wave in an opened end tube using a stoichiometric hydrogen and air

mixture.

Setup and initialization

The simulation region is a 4cm x 128 cm planar tube initialized with a 0.3125mm grid spacing

throughout. The ignition region was created by patching 4 separate regions (shown in Figure 37)

with high temperature and pressure combustion cases to simulate a direct detonation, these

conditions are shown in Table 8. The transient simulation was run at a constant 0.1 ms time

interval to ensure that forwarded reaction rates for combustion kinetics were not too large.

Adaptive meshing was employed in this simulation due to the grid density required to resolve the

transient features of the detonation front and the overall length of the simulation region. ANSYS’

Fluent built in gradient based adaptive meshing was employed every 10 time steps with a

maximum level of refinement of 5 and maximum cell count of 2.5 million total cells. Density

gradients and reaction rate gradients were determined to be best suited for detonation regions of

interests such as the reaction and shock fronts. Fluent only allows for single variable adaptive

meshing thus a compromise was made and it was determined that density based adaptive meshing

would be best suited to resolve the high pressure and temperature regions found near the

detonation front. Shown in Figure 36 is a sample of the adaptive grid near the detonation front.

One can see that the region immediately downstream of the flow where it is still at ambient

conditions has been unaffected by the adaption whereas the regions near the shock intersection

Page 65: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

49

has been heavily refined. Additionally areas of relatively constant pressure have been coarsened

after the detonation front has past.

Figure 36: Adaptive Meshing Grid

Figure 37: Initialization region for Case 2

Table 8: Initiation conditions for Case 2

Initial Conditions (Unburned Gas)

1 atm Initial Pressure

298 K Initial Temperature

2.852 % H2 Mass Fraction

22.64 % O2 Mass Fraction

74.51 % N2 Mass Fraction

0.000 % H2O Mass Fraction

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50

Initial Conditions (Ignition Region)

90 atm Initial Pressure

3500 K Initial Temperature

0 H2 Mass Fraction

0 O2 Mass Fraction

0 N2 Mass Fraction

1 H2O Mass Fraction

Table 9: CJ Conditions for Case 2

Chapman-Jouguet Conditions (CJ)

P2/P1 15.45 Pressure Ratio

T2/T1 9.8 Temperature Ratio

UCJ 1968 m/s Detonation Velocity

Table 10: ZND Conditions for Case 2

Post Shock Conditions (Von Nuemann)

Pvn/P1 27.4 Post Shock Pressure

Tvn/T1 5.1 Post Shock Temperature

i 0.16 mm Induction Zone Length

Figure 38: Expected ZND Profile for Case 2

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

x 10-3

1400

1600

1800

2000

2200

2400

2600

2800

3000

Distance; = 0.00016 m

Te

mp

era

ture

Final T = 2920.2 K; Max T = 2947 K

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

x 10-3

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

Distance

Pre

ssu

re

Final P = 14.9 atm; Max P = 27.4 atm

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51

Results

The transient simulation was run until it was determined that the solution had reached a pseudo

steady state and the detonation propagation was stable.

Figure 39: Pressure Wave Propagation separated by 100 s

Pressure and Temperature

The two dimensional simulation shows multiple detonation fronts evolving within the tube with

transverse shockwaves propagating backwards through the simulation which make it difficult to

accurately determine post detonation conditions. Shown in Figure 40 and Figure 41 Similar to the

one dimensional the CJ conditions were examined at the point when the reaction rates fell to near

zero values. The data points were sampled at 50s intervals along a constant horizontal line at Y

= 0.14m.

It is immediately obvious that the pressure and temperature spikes fluctuate largely and do not

correspond with post shock ZND conditions. The peak pressures range from 25 to 55 atm when

ZND predicts only 27 atm pressure rise. The initial temperature rises to a value between 3000K

and 3500K peaking shortly after to a value a few hundred kelvin higher. The post detonation

conditions along the constant Y location are shown in Table 11with their respective locations. The

average pressure is approximately 16 atmospheres and with a temperature near 3400K. The

average pressure is represents a 3.6% difference and average temperature represents a 16%

difference in temperature.

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52

Figure 40: Pressure vs. X Location for Case 2 at 50s intervals for constant Y = 0.14

Figure 41: Temperature vs. X Location for Case 2 at 50s intervals for constant Y = 0.14

Table 11: Post Detonation Conditions along X = 0.014 m

Time

(s) X Location

(m) Pressure

(atm) Temperature

(K)

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.20

10

20

30

40

50

60

X Location (m)

Pre

ssu

re (

atm

)

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.20

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

X Location (m)

Te

mp

era

ture

(K

)

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53

122 0.217 16.8 3475

172 0.331 16.0 3465

222 0.421 16.6 3498

272 0.514 16.4 3381

322 0.621 15.9 3443

372 0.733 15.2 3337

422 0.822 15.0 3280

Average 16.0 3411

Wavespeed

Wavespeed measurement was calculated by analyzing the locations where the pressure was first

seen to rise significantly, i.e. where the shock front first cross the line at Y = 0.014m. Shown in

Figure 40 is an overlay of the pressure traces at 50 s intervals. The average wavespeed was

computed to be approximately 2192 m/s differing from the theoretical CJ value of 1968 m/s by

11%.

Table 12: Wavespeed measurements for Case 2

D (m) t (ms) Velocity (m/s)

0.294 122 ----

0.405 172 2227

0.517 222 2225

0.628 272 2231

0.736 322 2163

0.843 372 2132

0.950 422 2144

Average 2187

Similar to the one dimensional simulation the numerical values for CJ pressure, temperature, and

wavespeed compare favorable to the theoretical values calculated by Chapman-Jouguet theory but

did not agree well with the ZND model predictions. Additionally the point of zero reaction was

found to be well after the initial shockwave had passed rather than closely coupled with it like the

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54

one 1-D model and theory predict. Examining the location of the shockwave in Table 12 and the

location of the zero reaction point in Table 11 one can see that there is a difference of several

centimeters between the recorded X locations for the selected time steps and is shown in Figure

42 as Location 1. For comparison, data points were extracted by visually determining the location

of shock fronts and then estimating where the reaction zone ended which is shown as Location 2.

The new pressure and temperature traces show the same trend as those in Figure 40 and Figure 41

but tend to average much higher than those along the Location 1 points. Sampling points

immediately after the detonation wave results in an average value of 23.1 atm and 3960K the

corresponding to a 50% overestimation of pressure and a 34% overestimation of temperature with

wavespeed remaining unaffected.

Figure 42: Comparison of data measurement locations for Case 2

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55

Figure 43: Pressure vs. X Location for Case 2 at 50s intervals behind shock

Figure 44: Temperature vs. X Location for Case 2 at 50s intervals behind Shock

Table 13: Post Detonation Conditions behind Shock

Time

(s) X Location

(m) Pressure

(atm) Temperature

(K)

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.20

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

X Location (m)

Pre

ssu

re (

atm

)

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.20

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

X Location (m)

Te

me

pe

ratu

re (

K)

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56

122 0.293 22.1 3958

172 0.405 20.7 3975

222 0.517 22.2 3936

272 0.627 27.8 4138

322 0.735 25.6 4022

372 0.843 28.4 4022

422 0.945 14.8 3689

Average 23.1 3963

Given the large disparity between results at the two sampling locations it is difficult to determine

exactly which set of results represent post detonation conditions. The CJ and ZND models which

are used to predict theoretical performance are based on 1-Dimensional modelling only and do not

account for shock wave interactions that cause the fish scale cell patterns or localized hot spots

that are seen in experimental testing. It may then not be correct in judging the accuracy of the

simulation solely on theoretical detonation conditions.

Detonation Cells

Image stacking of individual pressure contours for each time step was performed on the extracted

data to show a time history of the oscillating wave front and evaluate detonation cell regularity

and size. A time accurate overlay of pressure contours is shown for the first few centimeters in

Figure 45. It is immediately obvious that a regular detonation cell pattern exists shortly after the

simulated initiation of detonation. The fish scale pattern formed by the intersecting shockwaves

create an average of 3-4 cells in the tube at every time instant coinciding with an approximate

average cell width of 1 – 1.33 cm per cell. Analyzing a region of the stack image we can see that

this is indeed the case where the measured cell width ranges from 1.10 cm to 1.52 cm or roughly

7/16” to 19/32”. The expected cell width of stoichiometric hydrogen-air obtained from

experimental results 0.8 cm – 1.5 cm which agrees well with the numerical results.

Page 73: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

57

Figure 45: Numerical evaluation of cell sizes for Case 2

Figure 46: Cell size measurements and comparison for Case 2

Simulation vs. Theory

The two dimensional case showed correct trends for detonation pressure, temperature, velocity

and detonation structure though not necessarily in line with theoretical CJ and ZND properties.

There was good agreement when compared to locations far behind the leading detonation front

where reactions were determined to cease. The difference between theoretical and numerical

results was found to be significantly higher than that of the one dimensional simulation though

varying by as much 11% for detonation velocity and 16% for temperature. The theoretical one

dimensional ZND and CJ models predict the location of detonation properties to be immediately

following the initial shock and following the detonation wave respectively and so an effort was

made to sample results immediately after the detonation wave for comparison. In doing so

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58

detonation pressure and temperature were found to differ significantly with velocity remaining

unaffected. It was determined that variance was caused by the complex two dimensional nature of

the numerical simulation in which shock interaction and chemical kinetics lead to large variations

in pressures and temperatures. There is no known theory that predicts the transient thermodynamic

property distribution for two and three dimensional detonation propagations. The accuracy of the

predicted detonation cell sizes and propagation velocity in conjunction with detonation level

pressures and temperatures would indicated that the simulation accurately captured a stable

detonation propagating in a confined tube. For all intensive purpose of this study it is has been

deemed accurate for application in future studies.

Based on the results obtained from this simulation it can be concluded that Fluent it is indeed

capable of predicting and defining detonation cell propagation and is best suited to simulated

detonation propagation and transference in combined geometries. The results from this simulation

can be used to study detonation propagation into large tubes, converging- diverging tubes, and

those with arbitrary geometries.

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59

6 TEST EQUIPMENT AND METHODOLOGY

6.1 Experimental Method

Experimental tests were conducted to first establish baseline performance with stoichiometric

conditions then parametrically changing targeted decision variables to evaluate their effect on

performance. A typical experiment would proceed by starting with a stoichiometric fuel / air

mixture with a pulse width designed to fill 100% of the tube volume at single 1 Hz pulses.

Equivalence ratio would then be varied to its upper and lower limits of combustion from lean to

rich mixtures. The input variables would then be reset to vary volume fill percentage and run until

its combustion limits were met as well. Lastly pulsing frequency was evaluated using initial

stoichiometric conditions at 100% fill and then varied from 1Hz to its maximum operating

frequency. If certain inputs were noticed to have a significant effect on performance such as

ignition time and pulse width, they too were varied to dial in performance and examine trends if

any existed.

6.2 Experimental Hardware

Two different detonation systems were used in this study: a large diameter tube initially tested

with propane gas and a smaller tube designed to run on ethylene gas. The large tube was built as

part of previous research by a past researcher and the author as the initial testbed for detonation

research. The small tube was a redesigned version of the original detonation system built to

address several issues experienced during testing namely size, weight, and detonation

performance. The larger tube had issues with volume fill rate that limited the maximum frequency

that could be achieved to 1Hz or less while the smaller tube had a maximum filling frequency of

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60

10 Hz or greater and it is for this reason that future references to the large and small tubes will be

referred as the low and high frequency tubes respectively from this part forward.

The low frequency tube used a system of threaded rods and custom manufactured orifice plates to

generate the obstacles used in detonation transition. Filling and ignition was performed only in the

beginning section near the end wall and thus required a long initial spark delay to ensure proper

mixing and fuel / air travel.

Figure 47: Low Frequency Tube Setup

The high frequency detonation tube used in this study was designed to use Ethylene (C2H4) / Air

mixtures to achieve detonation via detonation transition utilizing orifice plates. The primary intent

Page 77: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

61

of this design was to use a sufficiently light fuel that was sensitive enough to use with smaller tube

diameters to promote higher filling frequencies utilizing onsite resources. The average cell width

at stoichiometric conditions is approximately 1 inch and thus the detonation tube was chosen to

be approximately 2 inches in diameter. The optimum blockage ratio was determined from past

studies to be approximately 45% yielding an interior diameter of 1.5 inches which should enable

us to achieve detonation over a wide range of equivalence ratios and ensure a stable detonation

propagation as shown in Figure 48.

Figure 48: Ethylene Cell Size vs. Equivalence Ratio

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62

The tube is composed of three sections in which ignition is initiated, detonation transition occurs,

and pressure and combustion conditions are measured. To facilitate high frequency pulsing of fuel

and air both gases are injected at the interfaces between the different sections. This is seen also as

a way to control mixing times as the adequate mixing is crucial to successful detonation

propagation. Additionally the tube is mounted to a sliding rail systems which allows it to move

axially with respect to its exhaust direction should propulsion testing need to be performed.

The measurement section was modified from the low frequency system to allow for two ion

sensors spaced 90 degrees opposed from the pressure sensors at the last two pressure sensor

locations. The interior obstacles were manufactured stainless steel thin discs and spaced by thin

wall pipe to allow for easier reconfiguration when compared to the low frequency tube cartridge

system.

Figure 49: High Frequency Tube Experimental Setup

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63

Figure 50: Interior Geometry for High Frequency Tube

The high frequency tube used exhaust vents mounted near the end of the tube to ensure excess

combustion gases are removed and not vented into the closed lab facility. Additionally a retention

barrel was placed in front of the exhaust to capture soot particles and any potential debris that may

be liberated during testing.

Figure 51: High Frequency Tube Overview

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64

Figure 52: High Frequency Tube Measurement Section

Figure 53: High Frequency Tube Interior Obstacle Configuration

Figure 54: Injection plate for High Frequency Tube

Page 81: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

65

7 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

7.1 Theoretical results

Ethylene gas and gaseous air was used in testing all configurations of the low and high frequency

tubes and the expected trends for detonation velocity and pressures are shown below. The right

secondary axis on both figures shows cell width in inches with a horizontal line marking the upper

limit for the high frequency tube and two vertical lines denoting the boundaries for the velocities

and pressures. An equivalence ratio between 0.70 and 2.0 bounds the theoretical detonation

velocities between 1692 m/s and 1885 m/s and the pressure from 15.87 psia to 19.56 pisa.

Figure 55: Expected Range of Detonation Velocities

Figure 56: Expected Range of Detonation Pressures

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66

7.2 Uncertainty

With any experimental system there is a certain degree of uncertainty inherent in the measurement

process. Uncertainty comes for the measurement and manufacturing process where precision is

limited to the instruments available and manifests itself in pressure and wavespeed measurement.

Sources of uncertainty for pressure and velocity come from:

Mounting locations for sensors

DAQ Sampling Rate

Pressure Transducer rise time and resolution

Calculation of Uncertainty

Wavespeed

The calculation of wavespeed for both numerical and experimental studies uses the simple

kinematic formula for velocity. Unlike numerical simulations, in which the exact time and position

are known, experimental precision was limited by manufacturing tolerances and sampling rates.

Modifying the original equation to account for this we get:

⁄ ( )

⁄ ( )

U(d) is the uncertainty created by the tolerances in position of the sensor mounting holes relative

to each other. U(s) is the uncertainty created by the maximum sampling rate of digital acquisition

device (DAQ). The stated spacing for hole locations was 2.00” +/- .01” representing a 0.5%

uncertainty in distance. By itself the mounting location only contributes a difference of 9 m/s for

a calculated wavespeed of 1800m/s. The maximum sampling rate of DAQ with 6 sensors in

Page 83: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

67

differential mode is 233 KHz leading to a sampling time of 4.29s and an uncertainty of +/-

2.1459s.

( ) √( ( )

)

( ( )

)

( ) √(

)

(

)

( )

( )

With only 4 sensors connected the uncertainty is reduced to 91 m/s and 2 sensors at 46 m/s.

Pressure

The PCB 111A24 sensors have a published resolution of 20 mpsi and a reflected rise time of 1.5

s. Given the level of pressure ranges experienced in testing sensor resolution was not an issue.

The reflected rise time taken to go from a nearly zero level voltage region to some nearly constant

value when the sensor is oriented in line with the pressure wave. The reflected rise time in all

measurements was then less than half the sampling time in all detonation cases and thus did not

contribute to any erroneous measurements. It was determined that there was no significant amount

of uncertainty inherent in the pressure measurements.

7.3 Low Frequency Tube Testing

In previous testing utilizing propane-air combinations detonation was never achieved in any

configuration, it was only until the air supply was switched to oxygen that detonation level

pressures and velocities were obtained. Even then measured detonation pressures and velocities

were not consistent with CJ theory.

Page 84: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

68

The low frequency tube was then tested with ethylene (C2H4) fuel instead of the propane (C3H8)

with a DDT section consisted of 14 total discs with a blockage ratio of 45% and a spacing of 3”.

The objective of this experiment was to determine if the failure to transition to detonation was due

to either cell size limitations or transition length. Propane has a detonation cell size of roughly 2 –

4 inches depending on equivalence ratio while ethylene is roughly half that with a cell size of

approximately 1 – 2 inches. Referencing Figure 57 and Figure 58, measurements showed that

ethylene lead to a higher pressure and velocity at the test measurement section than the best

propane tests but ultimately did not detonate. With roughly four cell widths available for

detonation propagation one would have expected a stable wave at the end of the measurement

section if DDT had been achieved but the lack of any substantial improvements in wavespeed

would support the conclusion that transition length and not cell size was ultimately the factor that

prevented detonation transition. The effect of an increased L/D ratio was not pursued during this

study due to the large size and overall length needed to increase transition length. Doubling the

transition length would have required another four feet of schedule 80 pipe which the stand and

filling arrangement was not designed for and incapable of accommodating.

Page 85: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

69

Figure 57: Low Frequency Tube pressure traces with Ethylene gas

26.7 26.8 26.9 27 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 27.6

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Time (ms)

Pre

ssu

re (

PS

I g)

Speed:(m/s)1-2: 769.72-3: 1043.93-4: 952.5Avg: 922.01TR1 (us): 15TR1 (us): 5TR1 (us): 5TR1 (us): 6Max P1: 108.8Max P2: 96.71Max P3: 101.71Max P4: 91.1

Page 86: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

70

Figure 58: Low Frequency Tube pressure traces with Propane gas

Page 87: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

71

7.4 High Frequency Tube Configuration I Testing

The first configuration consisted of a 30 inch long ddt section with a maximum of 12 thin discs

and two end discs spaced two inches apart from one another. The L/D ratio in this configuration

was approximately 14:1

Pressure Trends

The following figures show the influence modifying fill percentage, fill frequency, and

equivalence on maximum recorded pressure for the short tube configuration I. The fill percentage,

which is the percentage of volume at a given equivalence ratio and tube length, had the greatest

effect on pressure ratio, followed by equivalence ratio and then lastly pulsing frequency. As the

fill percentage increased one can see that so did the maximum required pressure ratio to the point

where it started leveling off. Not shown in the plots however is the issue of combustion failure

that occurred at higher fill ratios. The fuel-air mixture often failed to ignite or lead to low pressure

and speed deflagration at fill ratios of 120% and greater. Increasing the firing rate at 100% fill and

a stoichiometric lead to a gradual decrease in maximum recorded pressure ratio though not as

dramatic as that in the equivalence ratio tests or fill percentages test. This would seem to indicate

that residual combustion products left over after ignition and the slow speed of the deflagration

interfered with the next pulse cycle. This interference gradually had a greater effect as the time

between pulses grew smaller. This would indicate the need for a purging cycle between pulses

though the implementation of one would effectively cut the pulsing frequency in half.

In Figure 61 a second data set was added for comparison, the same tube length and internal spacing

but reducing the number of obstacles and thus the L/D ratio for DDT section. The reduction of

obstacle number change the overall L/D ratio from 14:1 to roughly 9:1. The clear difference in

peak pressures illustrates the effect of obstacle count on flame acceleration. Interestingly enough

Page 88: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

72

both data sets do not peak at the same equivalence ratio but are instead separated by a large gap.

The 13 disc configuration peaks at an equivalence ratio of 0.75 whereas the 8 disc configuration

does so at an equivalence ratio of 1.0.

Figure 59: Maximum Pressure vs. Fill percentage trends for configuration I

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 2000

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Fill Percentage (%)

Pre

ssu

re (

PS

I g)

Page 89: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

73

Figure 60: Maximum pressure vs. Pulsing Frequency trends for configuration I

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Frequency (Hz)

Pre

ssu

re (

PS

I g)

Page 90: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

74

Figure 61: Maximum Pressure vs. Equivalence Ratio trends for configuration I

Wavespeed Trends

The variation of filling parameters showed the same trend as the maximum pressure readings save

for the effect of filling frequency on calculated wavespeed. Wavespeed was seen to increase up

to 100 percent fill then leveled off to a nearly constant value. Wavespeed when compared against

equivalence ratio, approached a maximum at a value of 0.8 for the 13 discs case and a lower

maximum at an equivalence ratio of 1.1 for the 8 discs case. Similar to the maximum pressure

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 20

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Equivalence Ratio

Pre

ssu

re (

PS

I g)

13 Discs

8 Discs

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75

cases, the increase in L/D ratio led to an increase in wavespeed. It is also worth noting that the

maximum pressure condition in Figure 61 for both the 13 and 8 disc configuration did not coincide

with the maximum velocity cases. Curiously, the change in pulsing frequency saw no appreciable

difference in computed wavespeed whereas the same conditions caused a severe drop in peak

pressures.

Figure 62: Velocity vs. Fill Percentage trends for configuration I

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 2000

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Fill Percentage (%)

Wa

ve

Ve

locity (

m/s

)

Page 92: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

76

Figure 63: Velcoity vs. Frequency trends for configuration I

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Frequency (Hz)

Wa

ve

Ve

locity (

m/s

)

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Figure 64: Velocity vs. Equivalence ratio trends for configuration I

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 20

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Equivalence Ratio

Wa

ve

Ve

locity (

m/s

)

13 Discs

8 Discs

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7.5 High Frequency Tube Configuration II Testing

The second configuration containing twice the number of total discs and the same obstacle spacing

increased the L/D ratio from 14 to 28. This increase in L/D ratio led to successful transition to

detonation.

Results

The increased L/D led to detonation in most conditions and was found to be stable however it is

interesting to note that not every combination of equivalence ratio, volume and delay time led to

successful transition. Some tests resulted in fast deflagrations with high pressure ratios like those

shown in Figure 65 while some failed to ignite entirely. The cases that showed fast deflagrations

were easy to identify as deflagrations rather than weak detonation in part due to the addition of

ion sensors at the last two pressure sensor locations. The ion sensors allowed for the determination

and differentiation of the flame front. In the figure below the four positive traces are the pressure

sensors while the negative two are the ion sensors. The ion sensors only measure a voltage drop

when the gap across the spark plug has been closed. The ionized gas caused by chemical reactions

during combustion closes this gap and creates a short circuit when the flame passes by the

electrodes.

Figure 65 confirms that the measured data was a deflagration rather than a detonation in three

ways. Firstly the peak pressures which reach a maximum of roughly 100 psig are much lower than

the expected 230-290 psig that we expect from stoichiometric detonation. Secondly the computed

wavespeeds at roughly 1000 m/s are approximately half that of the CJ values. Lastly the delay

between the last two pressure sensors and the ion sensors shows that the combustion wave actually

Page 95: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

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trails the pressure wave by a significant amount of time rather than coupled with it like ZND

theory predicts.

Figure 65: Typical Deflagration Sensor Traces

Figure 66 is typical example of a detonation, when compared to deflagrations it is immediately

obvious that the time between pressure measurements is much smaller, the peak pressure ratios

are much higher, and the time between pressure and ion sensors are negligible.

0.433 0.4332 0.4334 0.4336 0.4338 0.434 0.4342 0.4344 0.4346 0.4348

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

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Figure 66: Typical Detonation Sensor Traces

In Table 14 the observed differences between deflagrations and detonations are observed

numerically. The difference between a fast deflagration and a detonation is shown clearly in the

wavespeed, pressure, and ion sensor data. The ion sensor measured speeds are consistent with the

pressure transducer speeds in the detonation case and the measured time between combustion and

pressure waves is 25 time less than that of the deflagration case.

It is interesting to note however that the ion sensors actually detect the combustion wave prior to

the pressure wave rather than immediately after like theorized in the ZND model. The measured

time between the pressure front and flame front is calculated to be 4.3 microseconds which at the

calculated wavespeed for the pressure sensors is a separation of about 8.5 mm. The difference is

exactly equal to 1 time step difference at the current sampling rate, i.e. 6 sensors / 1.4MS/s = 4.286

s. When sampling time was increased to 2.85 s the flame was still found to lead the pressure

wave by exactly one time step and is shown in Figure 67. Additionally the spark plug mounting

0.4386 0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402 0.4404-150

-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

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81

has an uncertainty of + /- 0.02 inches of .5 mm and although the center point of the electrode was

designed to be aligned with center of the pressure transducer the actual location that the

combustion wave cross the electrode gap can be anywhere across the prong. It is entirely possible

within the uncertainty of the measurement system that the combustion wave is actually much

closer to the pressure sensors or possibly even after it. However for the purposes of this study the

confirmation of combustion wave travelling at detonation speeds couple very closely to the

pressure wave is adequate.

Table 14: Wavespeed measurements and comparsion for Detonation and Deflagration

Deflagration Detonation

V2,pcb 1075.8 1972.8 m/s

V32,pcb 1076.0 1691.1 m/s

V43,pcb 986.4 1972.8 m/s

V43,ion 696.3 1972.8 m/s

tC2-P2 116 -4.3 s

tC1-P1 137 -4.3 s

DC2-P2 80.7 -8.5 mm

DC1-P1 95.6 -8.5 mm

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Figure 67: Detonation Sensor traces at 350KS/s

Figure 68: Combustion Sensor Mounting

Figure 69: Spark Plug Electrode uncertainty

Detonation Performance

Testing was conducted with constant LabView VI inputs to measure the variability of the

detonation wave measured at the end of the tube. The following figures show the pressure,

wavespeed, and transition time distribution and its comparison to a normal distribution. Recalling

that for an ethylene-air detonation the CJ pressure is approximately varies between 230 psi and

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83

290 psi and the detonation velocity varying between 1640 m/s – 1880 m/s with stoichiometric

conditions yielding a CJ pressure of 274 psi and a detonation velocity of 1821m/s.

Figure 70: Normal distribution of measured Deotonation pressures

The average of 404 separate pressure measurements was found to be 251 psi with a standard

deviation 72 psi. Figure 70 shows that most of the samples collected were within one standard

deviation of the average (354 samples equaling 88%). With a small percentage being two standard

deviations or more greater than the average and the least being within two standard deviations less

than the average. The value of 251 psig represents an absolute pressure value of 265 psia which

is slightly less than the stoichiometric detonation pressure and well within the expected ranges. It

is important to note that since 88% of the values fall within the 178 psig – 323 psig range it is

impossible to determine the variation of detonation pressure with equivalence ratio as any

pressures outside of this range would not correspond to a stable detonation wave.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

34 106 178 251 323 395 467 More

Sam

ple

Fre

qu

ency

Pressure (PSIg)

Pressure Distribution

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Figure 71: Normal distribution of all measured Detonation Velocities

The next three figures show the normal distribution of all recorded speed calculations, one for the

pressure sensors and combustion sensors combine and then two for each one individually. The

average of all combined and individual wavespeeds was 1871 m/s which is very nearly the

maximum expected velocity and has a standard deviation of 137 m/s. The standard deviation is

relatively small when compared to that of the pressure measurements and interestingly enough it

is actually equal to that of the measurement uncertainty. However, the distribution of all measured

velocities is more random than that of the pressures with 71% falling within +/- one standard

deviation and 22% less than one standard deviation and more than two standard deviations below

the average velocity. Only 32% of the measured wavespeeds lie within the expected range with

the majority of them trending much higher. If we are to keep the same scale as Figure 71 but plot

just the distributions of pressures sensors calculated wavespeeeds or just the ion sensor calculated

0

50

100

150

200

250

1459 1597 1734 1871 2008 2146 2283 More

Freq

uen

cy

Velocity Distribution

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wavespeed an interesting trend appears. The randomness apparent in the overall plot of velocities

seems to be inherited from the pressure sensors as it shows the same degree of randomness. The

ion sensors however show a much more even distribution with 96% of the calculated velocities

compared to the 63% with the pressure sensors. This would seem to indicate that the ion sensors

are a more accurate way of measuring wave velocities. The disparity between the pressure sensors

and ion sensors is most likely due to the inherent error in the way the quartz pressure sensors

work, i.e. the reflected rise time which is the maximum response time for the signal to reach a

certain percentage of its maximum value from a zero voltage level. The ion sensors have a constant

voltage and instantly measure a change when it is discharged.

Figure 72: Normal distribution of measured Detonation Velocities from Pressure Transducers

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

1459 1597 1734 1871 2008 2146 2283 More

Freq

uen

cy

Velocity Distribution (Pressure Sensors)

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Figure 73: Normal distribution of measured Detonation Velocities from Ion Sensors

The transition time values were measured from the point of the ignition signal to the first recorded

pressure wave and are shown in Figure 74. One can immediately note a near perfect normal

distribution indicating that there exists a large degree of randomness in transition although the

standard deviation is only 6 ms for an average value of 17.6 ms transition time. This deviation is

likely cause by inconsistencies in filling as well as slight differences in the timing control system.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1459 1597 1734 1871 2008 2146 2283 More

Freq

uen

cyVelocity Distribution (Ion Sensors)

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Figure 74: Normal distribution of Detonation Transition Times

Thermal Performance

The entire length of the detonation tube was painted with a high temperature black matte finish to

simulate a black body with emissivity of 1.00. Temperature levels were measured using a

handheld infrared gun after continuous testing had performed for several minutes. The variation

of temperature is shown along the whole pipe length In Figure 75 and visual readings from a FLIR

camera are shown in Figure 76 and Figure 77. The temperature levels steadily rose from the end

wall of the tube towards 30” from the end wall, peaking 340 F and gradually decreasing after that.

This was most likely due to the increasing effect of flame acceleration and decreased residence

time in that area. The flanges show a large dip temperature but has an outer diameter of roughly

6” and is not in direct contact with the flow. The check valves leading to the injection ports on the

end wall and injection plates were cool to the touch but were not directly measured because its

emissivity coefficient was not known. The temperature near the pressure measurement section

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

0.0 5.8 11.7 17.6 23.5 29.5 35.4 More

Freq

uen

cyTransition Time Distribution

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was found to decrease rapidly and hovered around 150 F which was below the 275 F limit for

steady state temperatures of the pressure sensors. The Flir imaging for the transition and

measurement sections showed the same trends but were useful only as a qualitative tool as the

model used only had a maximum range of 200 F.

Figure 75: Temperature (F) Distribution along Detonation Tube after testing

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Figure 76: Thermal Imaging of Detonation Tube Transition Section

Figure 77: Thermal Imaging of Detonation Tube Measurement Section

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Sound Levels

Figure 78: Sound Levels (dBa) during testing near Detonation Tube

The above figure is measurement of recorded sound pressure levels using a sound level meter with

an “A” frequency weighting. The A frequency rating however may not represent the true sound

pressure level that exists when the detonation tube is firing. Typically a “C” frequency rating

would measure peak sound levels. Of the commercial equipment available at the time neither “A”

or “C” meters had fast enough rise times (125 ms max) to truly capture the peak pressure wave

which rose from 0 to maximum and lower within the span of 10 ms. The importance of Figure 78

then to illustrate the regions of high levels and its attenuation through walls and doors.

Inside the testing area of the gas turbine lab where the detonation tube is housed one can see that

sound pressure levels fluctuate +/- 3 dBs. Immediately outside the walls of the gas turbine lab

however there is a significant drop of 20 dBs which is equivalent to using a low amount of hearing

protection. It is important to note that attenuation only occurs when the pressure wave passes

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through walls or solid bodies. Measured sound pressure levels in the corridors immediately outside

the testing area were found to be constant regardless of distance.

The need for hearing protection within the testing area should be clear, anyone inside or

immediately outside of the area would require hearing protection in the form headsets and/or ear

plugs.

Observations & Issues

Air and Fuel

During testing of the high frequency tube configuration II setup several unforeseen issues and

interesting side effects were observed. Most notably was the effect of incoming air pressure on

successful detonation transition. Large drops in air pressure at the regulator were noticed when air

was being injected which made it difficult to determine the incoming air pressure and thus the

amount of mass being injected. This effect was constant throughout testing however and could be

corrected for by increasing incoming air pressure above the desired level. During continuous

pulsed testing a steady decline in maximum air pressure at the regulator was also noticed. It was

determined that the offsite air compressor used for air delivery was being discharged before the

automatic compressor was being triggered to refill the compressed air tank. The effect that this

issue had on testing was dramatic when combined with the pressure drops during filling. The

pressure drops were so severe that the equivalence ratio of gas was richer than intended and led

not only to detonation failure but also combustion failure.

It is important to note that the fuel delivery system did not experience pressure drops in the line

when filling as pressure at the regulator was not shown to vary at all. One issue that the fuel supply

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did have was the static temperature decrease when discharging fuel. It was repeatedly observed

that condensation and sometimes ice would form on the pressure regulator at the fuel tank.

Figure 79: Frozen condensation on Pressure Regulator

Filling issues

The switch from the short tube to the long tube configuration brought about unexpected issues in

the filling performance of the tube. Introduction of the longer transition section increased both the

required filling time and mixing time. In the short tube configuration ignition was always initiated

immediately after filling had completed to minimize cycle time. A spark delay had to be added in

the long tube configuration to ensure that combustion or detonation occurred. The additional

length of tube combined with the presence of a larger number of obstacles required an additional

mixing delay time on the order of 100ms. The delay time was found to be consistent for a specific

fuel / air mixtures but not so for all combinations of equivalence ratio and fill rate which is to be

expected.

Spark Plug Ignition

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Initial testing was performed using a long electrode oil heater spark plug as it was assumed that

the deeper penetration in the mixture would allow for a more uniform ignition and aid in

detonation initiation. However several runs showed that the use of the extended electrode plug

actually resulted in weaker ignitions, more failed detonations and lower pressure deflagrations

when compared to a traditional automotive spark plug.

Figure 80: Long Electrode Spark Plug

Spark plug ignition time also seemed to effect combustion strength as a relatively short spark time

of 5ms was found to produce weak deflagrations or no ignition whereas longer 10ms and 15ms

ignition times produced stronger blast waves and led to more reliable and successful detonations.

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8 CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND GUIDELINES FOR

FUTURE STUDIES

8.1 Recommendations for Numerical Studies

From the results presented in the previous sections we have inferred certain methods for

simulating detonation events in different configurations. Generally speaking it is not practical to

perform numerical analysis with full reacting chemistry sets and the necessary grid spacing to

resolve the reaction zones of detonation cells. In many cases the complexity of the system can be

condensed through reduced reaction sets (even global 1-step mechanisms) and adaptive meshing

techniques.

Chemical Kinetics

Validation case 1 showed that the use of a 1-step reaction mechanism in numerical simulations

accurately determined the CJ detonation velocity, pressure, and temperature conditions after the

shock. The one dimensional nature of the simulation allowed for very low mesh cell counts and in

turn short simulation times. The 1 step mechanism however was unable to resolve the long

induction time associated with ZND model. It was determined that this was an appropriate tradeoff

given the accuracy of the CJ conditions and the requirements of this study. The simplicity of the

global one step will lend greatly to simulation efficiency and speed.

Adaptive Meshing

Adaptive meshing in the two dimensional simulation greatly reduced the overall mesh size needed

to define the simulation. The computational resources needed to dynamically adapt a large mesh

are still significant and thus it is best used sparingly. In order for adaptive meshing to be truly

effective it must be correctly set to refine the areas of interest. The figure below shows a plot of

density gradient superimposed upon a density contour plot to illustrate the region of interest. In

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this situation density gradient was selected to capture regions of high pressure and temperature

gradient as either will lead to large gradients. Specifically for detonations there are immediate

rises in temperature and pressure near the shock front and for transition cases these locations are

not overlapping but rather separated by a large distance. It is recommended that normalized

density gradient adaption be used because it requires only setting the relative level of density

gradient rather than a maximum or minimum, ideal for large discontinuous regions of

thermodynamic properties.

Figure 81: Density Gradient vs. Density

Additionally control the level of refinement and maximum / minimum number of cells will allow

for optimum resolution of areas of interest while keeping simulation time and mesh count within

the limits of current hardware.

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Figure 82: Adaptive Meshing Control

Possible applications and future studies

The 1-Dimensional simulation applicability and potential lies in its ability to accurate simulate CJ

detonation conditions. A small tube section could be used to simulate detonations propagating into

open spaces, nozzles, or turbine geometry where only the entrance conditions are important and

no necessarily the wave structure.

The 2-dimensional simulation is best suited for detonation propagation and transition studies

where it is desired to know whether a stable detonation can be achieved and transferred. Such

applications would include innovative transition sections, delivery systems, and power extraction

devices.

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8.2 Recommendations for Experimental Studies

Filling & Purging

It was seen that decreasing the time between pulses in the short tube configuration had an adverse

effect on maximum recorded pressure but not wavespeed. The decrease in pressure was attributed

to the decrease in purge time leading to a buildup of residual combustion gases. Rather than being

able to propagate through a combustible mixture the pressure and reaction wave were decouple

and thus lead to blow outs. To mitigate this effect, a purging cycle will need to be added between

pulsing cycles to ensure that only a fresh combustible mixture exists inside the tube at the moment

of ignition. The purging cycle would consist of a single air pulse of sufficient width to deliver the

oxidizer mass that would fill the tube volume. Introduction of a purging pulse however would

effectively cause the pulsing frequency to decrease however as the oxidizer injection time is the

limiting factor in filling time.

It was observed during testing that the onset of detonation was very sensitive to initial air pressure,

a low pressure condition resulted in a lower amount of mass delivered to the tube and thus an off-

stoichiometric mixture of fuel and air that would either fail to detonate or become inconsistent and

unreliable. The chief cause of the low pressure conditions was the offsite air compressor used to

deliver the air supply to the tube. During the filling process pressure inside the line and at the

pressure regulator often fluctuated by 10 – 20 psi and after several sequential pulses the pressure

at the regulator would decrease from it set value to one much lower. This trend would continue

until a trigger began to refill the compressed air tank.

The combination of a need to deliver air faster and more reliably to the detonation tube necessitates

a larger compressed air storage system and quick release system. A larger tank with a higher

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minimum pressure would alleviate any filling air consistencies while a quick release system would

eliminate the air supply fluctuations seen during the filling process as well as decrease the overall

filling time and increase the cycle frequency. The quick release system for air delivery could be

as simple as using larger solenoids or utilizing timed and motorized valving systems.

Obstacle Configuration

Although detonation was not achieved, the short tube was able to achieve a higher filling a pulsing

rate than the long tube configuration due reduced volume. An effort to minimize the transition

length by altering the parameters of DDT would reduce the total volume and therefore the filling

time necessary to create a stoichiometric mixture. Previous studies showed that certain

configurations of obstacle placement and blockage ratio produced consistently higher pressures

and measured velocities and while the result of these tests were adapted to the design of the high

frequency tube it is possible that further optimization can be achieved.

Sound Insulation and isolation

The high and damaging sound levels produced by a detonation pulse must be accounted for in any

further experimental setup especially those operating at higher pulsing frequencies. OSHA

regulations dictate that the noise dose be limited to some finite value per day for continuous pulses

and exposure limited to peak sound level pressures whenever possible. For the safety of

researchers and those near the testing area all efforts must be made to minimize noise exposure.

Established safety procedures require that hearing protection be worn by all persons within the lab

testing area. A sound suppressing enclosure must be used to minimize noise exposure to those

outside of this area without actively prohibiting access. The high velocity and pressure created at

the exhaust plate (2000 m/s and nearly 16x ambient pressure) cause a potential hazard should

anything be expelled during a detonation pulse and consequently requiring some form of blast

protection / deflection. The creation of simple test cell within the laboratory area could satisfy

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these requirements and enable further testing of pulse detonation experiments and other

combustion related studies.

High Speed Digitizers

High speed digitizers are similar to a DAQ in that they can record and convert analog voltage data

into digital signals. However digitizers are much more specialized in their function in that they do

not support pulse generation or pulse width modulation and thus cannot be used to control other

devices such digital solenoids and ignition systems. The tradeoff however is that they tend to have

much higher sampling rates accompanied by larger onboard memory to log and buffer data faster.

Digitizers typically record in the megasample (millions of samples / second) range as opposed to

the current DAQ’s kilosample range (thousands of samples/second), for example the National

Instruments USB-5133 digitizer is able to record 100MS/s on two channels simultaneously

resulting in over 400 times the sensor resolution of the current setup. An ideal measurement setup

for the current system would comprise of a DAQ control the ignition, fuel, and air pulses for the

spark and solenoids and recording digital pulse and an array of ion sensors that do not require high

frequency measurements and digitizers recording measurements from the pressure sensors.

Ion Sensing

The ion sensors used in this study were shown to be very successfully at measuring detonation

wavespeeds. The sensors were shown to have less of a standard deviation when compared to the

measurements obtained by the pressure transducers while simultaneously prevent any false

positive detonation velocities i.e. recording an expanding pressure wave instead of the actual flame

velocity. The combustion sensors are only able record the propagation of ionized gas which occurs

during the multiple chemical reactions of a combustion event, prior to and after that there is no

significant electrical charge in the gas to cause the stored potential in the senor to discharge. The

sensors also proved to be extremely cost effect since no modification was needed to original spark

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plug that was used as the combustion sensor and only minor electrical wiring was needed. It is

then the recommendation of this author that the combination of the LabView DAQ used in testing

plus a large array of combustion sensors strategically placed throughout the length of a detonation

tube can provide valuable insight into the study of deflagration to detonation transition. Ion sensors

spaced regularly throughout a detonation tube and between obstacles could be used to precisely

show the effect of obstacle geometry on detonation transition and aid in parametric study of new

configurations.

Possible applications and future studies

With a reconfigurable and reliable pulse detonation engine system developed further research can

now be focused on integration and optimization studies. The potential application of pulsed

detonation engines for thrust applications can be explored with the introduction of a supersonic

nozzle section. A custom designed or off-the-shelf turbine can be integrated at the exhaust to

evaluate power extraction capability and efficiency. The high enthalpy flow can also be used in

non-detonation applications such as shock tube testing.

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Occur. Uppsala : Department of Physics, Uppsala University, 2003.

30. Tian, Zhang Gui, Tsann, Jiang Yi and Sin, Yip Mee. Computational Analysis of

Reduction Techniques for Shock-To-Detonation Transition. s.l. : DSO National

Laboratories.

31. Wittmers, Nicole Kays. Direct-Connect Performance Evaluation of A Valveless Pulse

Detonation Engine. Monterey : Naval Postgraduate School, 2004.

32. Jiang, Zonglin and Han, Z. -Y. Shock Waves. s.l. : Springer, 2005.

33. Development of a Compact Liquid Fueled Pulse Detonation Engien with Predetonator.

Li, Jiun-Ming, et al. Reno : 45th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meetign and Exhibit,

2007.

34. Eckett, C. A., Quirk, J. J. and Shepherd, J. E. An analytical model for direct

initiation of gaseous detonations. Great Keppel Island : s.n., 1997.

35. Kuhl, A. L., Leyer, J. -C. and Borisov, A. A. Progress in Astronautics and

Aeronautics. Dynamic Aspects of Detonations. 1993, Vol. 153.

36. Frolov, Sergey M., et al. Enhancement of Shock-to-Detonation Tranisiton in

Channels with Regular Shaped Obstacles. Potiers : 21st ICDERS, 2007.

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37. Kailasanath, K. Research on Pulse Detonation Combustion Systems - A Status Report.

Orlando : 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, 2009.

38. Detonation Initiation by Controlled Triggering of Electric Discharges. Frolov, S. M.,

et al. 4, s.l. : Journal of Propulsion and Power, 2003, Vol. 19.

39. Shock Wave and Detonation Propagation Through U-bend Tubes. Frolov, S. M.,

Aksenov, V. S. and Shamshin, I. O. s.l. : Proceedings of the Combustion Institute

31, 2007.

40. Reactive Shock and Detonation Propagtion in U-Bend Tubes. Frolov, S. M., Aksenov,

V. S. and Shamshin, I. O. s.l. : Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process

Industries, 2007, Vol. 20.

41. Numerical simulations of flame propagation and DDT in obstructed channels filled

with hydrogen-air mixture. Gamezo, Vadim N, Ogawa, Takanobu and Oran,

Elaine S. 2, s.l. : S. Oran, Numerical simulations of flame propagation and DDT

in obstructed channels filled with hydrogen-air mixture, , 2007, Vol. 31.

42. Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition in Premixed H2-Air in Channels with

Obstacles. Gamezo, Vadim N., Ogawa, Takanobu and Oran, Elaine S. Reno :

45th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, 2007. AIAA 2007-1172.

43. Deflaration-to-Detonaiton Transtion in H2-Air Mixtures: Effect of Blockage Ratio.

Gamezo, Vadim N., Ogawa, Takanobu and Oran, Elaine S. Orlando : 47th

AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, 2009. AIAA 2009-440.

44. Romo, Francisco X. Design, Construction, and Optimization of a Pulse Detonation

Engine DDT Section. Daytona Beach, FL : Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University,

2012.

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45. Explosion Dynamics Laboratory. Spectral Analysis for Cell Size Measurement.

Explosion Dynamics Laboratory. [Online] April 2, 2007.

http://www2.galcit.caltech.edu/EDL/CellImageProcessing/cellsize.html.

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10 APPENDIX A: DETAILED EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

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10.1 Sensors and Instrumentation

Dynamic pressure transducers

PCB Piezotronic model 111A24 pressure transducers were used for dynamic pressure and velocity

measurement. The sensors have a maximum measurement range of 2000 psi at 5.0mv per psi at a

resolution of 20 millipsi and a rise time of less than 1.5 microseconds. They can withstand flash

temperatures of 3000F and static pressures of 10,000 psi however steady state operating

temperature is limited to 275F.

Combustion (Ion) Sensors

The Ion sensors were constructed from Autolite brand number 26 spark plugs unaltered and

connected to a PCB signal conditioner to provide a constant voltage potential across the electrodes.

The post was connected to the positive supply voltage of the signal conditioner and the body was

grounded to the common system ground and the signal conditioner ground. The default

configuration

Sound Level Meter

CEM DT-85A with an “A” frequency rating was used to measure sound levels at the detonation

tube and its surrounding area. The sound level meter has a measurement range of 35-130 dB and

an accuracy of +/- 3.0 dB and has a frequency range of 31.5Hz to 8KHz.

Infrared Handheld Gun

Extech 42545 high temperature infrared handheld thermometer was used to obtain surface

temperature measuments. The thermometer has a measurement range -58F to 1832F with

adjustable emissivity ratios and a narrow 50:1 distance to target ratio

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Signal Conditioner

The high frequency and low frequency tubes utilizes a PCB 482C15unit for signal conditioning

which supports up to 4-channels and individually adjustable voltage gain settings. The signal

conditioner provides a constant current source needed for the pressure transducers.

Data Acquisition Board (DAQ)

A National Instruments USB-6351 DAQ was used for the experiments, Figure 16. Out of all the

unit’s features, only the analog inputs and timers were used for testing. The analog inputs are

capable of sampling at a rate of up to 1.25 MHz (multichannel aggregate) with 16-bit resolution

and range of ±10 V. They were used to record the pressure signals. The 32-bit counter/timers

were used as control lines to trigger the injection solenoids and ignition system. The actual

sampling throughput was slightly higher due to the short sampling periods of approximately 100

ms. A short wire harness using an AMP multi-pin connector was used to easily transport /

separate the DAQ from the main wiring harness.

Fuel Supply

The fuel used for all configurations in this research was ethylene research gas (EY R200) provided

by Airgas. Stored in a size 200 high pressure tank with a CGA 350 connection and regulated by

an Airgas two stage 100 psi output regulator (PN Y12215D350).

Power Supply

An adjustable 3-15 VDC 40A B&K Precision 1692 switching power supply was used to power

the igniter, coil, and the injector driver box. The unit has a fixed-voltage mode (at 13.9 VDC),

used for testing. A digital display on the unit’s front panel shows the output voltage and instant

current draw.

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Injector Solenoids

The injector valves are manufactured by AFS, model Gs-series. They are ‘peak-and-hold’ type

valves. In order for them to have a fast response (opening/closing time), a high current must be

initially applied. Once the valve is open, a lower ‘hold’ current is sufficient to keep them open.

This avoids overheating the units. The manufacturer published mass flow vs. time curves were

obtained by using an AFS injector driver box. Therefore, to be able to properly correlate injector

opening time with mass flow, an AFS injector driver box was used.

Injector Driver

The injector driver box is an AFS 8-channel unit. It was powered by 13.8 VDC from the power

supply. It automatically provided the peak-and-hold output needed to trigger the injectors, based

on logic-level input signals from the DAQ.

Ignition coil and Igniter

The ignition module and coil were BOSCH units, fitted to several European cars. They were

powered by the 13.8VDC power supply, using heavy wire as described before. The ignition

module is of the ‘dumb’ type: i.e. coil charge time was directly controlled by the DAQ. A

wirewound noise suppression cable was used to connect the coil to the spark plug. The spark plug

used for all experiments is a standard Autolite 26 spark plug.

10.2 Hardware

The detonation tube was constructed from schedule 80 stainless steel 304 with a nominal

diameter of 2” and meets ASTM standard A312. Strength and temperature response of the

material is shown below.

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Nom. ID, inches 2.0 Outer Diameter, inches 2.375

Wall thickness, min., inches 0.189 Wall thickness, nominal, inches 0.216

Working Pressure PSI (ambient T) 3,411 Yield strength, min, PSI 30,000

Burst pressure PSI (ambient T) 13,642 Tensile strength, min, PSI 75,000

Melting Point 2550-2640

Maximum Service Temperature 1380-1700

Obstacles

The obstacles were made from stainless steel 304 round tube and manufactured to the desired

tolerances shown in Appendix C.

Flanges

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The flanges were socket-weld, class 300, conforming to MSS SP-6, SP-25, ASTM A182, and

ANSI/ASME B16.5 standards.

Flange gaskets

The flange gaskets were chosen to be full face class 300 gaskets conforming to ASME B16.20

standards and manufactured from NOVATEC engineered graphite and able to withstand

continuous temperatures of 925 degrees Fahrenheit

Bolts and Nuts

Bolts were chosen to be grade 2 stainless steel bolts with a minimum tensile strength of 70 Kpsi

Check valves

Check valves were of the Fluorelastomer seal type with a maximum pressure rating of 1000 psi

at 70 degrees Fahrenheit and have and can operate at temperatures of up to 400 degrees

Fahrenheit.

Injection block and Fuel Manifold

The injection blocks and fuel manifold delivery systems were machined from 6061 aluminum.

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10.3 Data Acquisition and Instrumentation Wiring

Shown in Figure 90 is the ignition coil setup, the primary power supply provides a DC voltage

source of 13.8V to an automotive ignition coil. The power supply and coil both share a common

ground.

LabView Frontend

The control panel which controls the fuel, air, and spark timing as well as data measurement was

created using NI LabView 2011 and interfaces with the NI USB-6351 digital acquisition system

used in analog to digital conversion (ADC). The virtual instrument (VI) is designed to control all

the parameters that govern the filling and detonation of the fuel / air mixture save for the fuel and

air pressures which must be manually set at their respective regulators.

Figure 83: Labview Virtual Instrument

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Figure 84: Input Control Panel for LabView VI

The Input control panel controls all the filling parameters for the fuel / air mixture supplied to gas

injectors and subsequently the spark pulse. Fuel Type and Oxidizer Type control the fuel and

oxidizer values used to calculate stoichiometric Air to Fuel ratio (AFR) and the appropriate

injector curvefit in the mathscript node located withing the LabView backend. Fuel and Oxidizer

pressure controls are used to determine the injector curvefits for injected mass vs. pulse width, in

the above figures these are grayed out to allow for maximum filling rates and minimum filling

time. Equivalence ratio, fill percentage, and tube length control the injected mass of fuel and air.

Modifying the equivalence ratio directly adjust the amount of fuel delivered to the detonation

tube while keeping the amount of air constant. Modifying the fill percentage and tube length

controls the overall volume used to calculate the mass of fuel and air needed. Increasing the fill

percentage multiplies the volume by the appropriate constant whereas modifying the tube length

will modify the volume by a ratio of L/Lo as governed by the equation V = R2L. Modifying the

pulse number directly changes the number of fuel, air, and spark On/Off pulse while System

pulse frequency will determine how closes those pulses are to each other. The system pulse

frequency effectively controls the time between one pulse and the next. Injector numbers tell the

mathscript code how to divide the total pulse time, if 2 oxygen injectors are used instead of 4 the

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total required fill time for air will double and likewise with the fuel. Start delay and spark delay

control the time between when the user presses the run button and the appropriate signal is

generated. In the current implementation all timing is triggered by the air high pulse (the digital

on signal) which means that the initial delay is actually the air delay and the spark delay is the

time between when the air injectors are closed and when the spark is ignited. Spark time controls

how long the spark plug is firing which directly controls the energy deposition rate. The air, fuel,

and ignition toggle buttons control whether or not the digital pulses are sent to the injector and

spark devices. By default these buttons are set to on but can be set to default off if needed.

Figure 85: Data logging and Timing Panel for LabView VI

The logging and timing panel control the data logging features of the VI. It allows for controlling

the sampling rate, recording time, and whether or not to log data to a file. The timing panel

displays the calculated data from the given inputs such as estimated fuel and air mass delivered

and pulse widths. It is important to not however that the sample rate of the daq is limited to 1.4

million samples per second total across all ports which means that if six sensors are connected and

recorded then the maximum sample rate is 1.4MS/6 or 233.33 KHz. To remove sensors from

being recorded one needs to remove it from the DAQMX node in the LabView backend.

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Figure 86: Graph Output Panel

The graph output panels show all the current sensors traces being used during the run. Recording

is started when the simulation is started although it can be changed to start when any of the injector

control pulses are fired or turned off. The top left corner shows just the scaled pressure sensor

traces, bottom left shows just ion sensor traces, top right shows the combined raw data from both

pressure and ion sensors and bottom left shows the digital pulses sent to the injectors and spark

plugs.

LabView Injector control system

The HFT VI employed in the experimental setup employs the use of pulse width modulation

(PWM) to deliver the precise amount of fuel desired for the inputs in the LabView frontend.

Each pulse time is calculated by the process outlined in APPENDIX B: CALCULATION OF FILLING

PARAMETERS, and then controlled by three independent hardware counters supplied by the NI

daq. The VI uses the inputs from the frontend panel to determine the required filling time for

both the fuel and air injectors. Adjusting the equivalence ratio, fill percentage, volume, and

number of injectors controls modify the width of the pulses (the “on times”) while pulse number

and frequency modify the spaces between pulses or the “off times”. Spark delay time will modify

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the distance between the last fuel / air pulse and the ignition pulse. Start delay will modify the

time between when the user press the run button and the first pulse starts.

The LabView code following the mathscript node is necessary to convert the desired pulse times

into digital on off signals and is created in three parts. First a pulse generator node is created

which tells the daq a digital pulse needs to be generated and on what channel. After the pulse is

generated the daq is then informed of how many pulses need to be generated and in what mode

to run them. Lastly the signal is when to start whether is triggered on run, external signal, or

from internal digital signal. The pulse is then generated based on the rising or falling action of

the signal, i.e. on or off. If the triggering is set on rising then the pulse is simultaneous with the

trigger start and if set to falling it simultaneous with the end of a trigger.

Figure 87: Fuel Control System

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Figure 88: Spark Plug Ignition Control System

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Figure 89: Mathscript Node for LabView VI

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Figure 90: Ignition Control Wiring

Figure 91: Injector Wiring

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10.4 Test Procedure

WARNING: Before Continuing ensure that those involved in testing are wearing appropriate

safety gear. For those in the immediate vicinity hearing and eye protection is required, additionally

it is recommended that ear plugs be used to supplement hearing protection. For those not involved

in testing but are in close proximity hearing protection is still mandatory.

1) Connect required fuel / air hose lines ensuring that all connections are tight and leak free.

If lines are damaged discontinue testing immediately and repair.

2) Check to make sure all safety devices are functioning correctly, check valves, flashback

arrestors, etc.

3) Ensure that air pressure are set to appropriate levels as determined by the filling rate

required. (Visible on the LabView Front Panel).

4) Ensure all wiring from pressure transducers are connected to the signal conditioner.

5) Ensure all wiring to the DAQ system is connected

6) Turn on system power from the B&K Precision 1695 DC power supply.

7) Turn on PCB Piezotroncs signal conditioners

8) Turn on the USB-X6351 DAQ

9) Load the “HFT_VI” LabView Front Panel

10) Press “Run Once” to purge the fuel and air lines ensuring that there is no pressure in the

fuel line. If there is make sure the spark ignition is either turned off on the front panel or

the spark plug has been disconnected manually.

11) Once the lines have been purged the testing system is ready to be used.

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11 APPENDIX B: CALCULATION OF FILLING PARAMETERS

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Given: Liquefied Propane Gas (LPG) + Air

Composition

Gas Formula Mass

Fraction

Molecular

Weight

(g/mol)

Density

(kg/m3) @

SLS

Stoichiometric

O/F

Mass AFR

@ Stoich.

Propane 90.0 44.096 1.865 5:1 15.64

Propylene 5.0 42.080 1.780 9:2 14.75

Butane 3.5 58.122 2.458 13:2 15.425

Methane 1.5 16.042 0.678 2:1 17.195

Calculating density at specified conditions

has a molecular weight of 44.096 g/mol, using ideal gas law we have

, where

.

Volumetric Air – to – Fuel Ratio is simply the ratio of the number of moles in a balanced chemical

equation, i.e.

( )

And the Volumetric AFR is then for pure oxygen is

To find AFR by Mass

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*Note we use divide by 0.232 because air is roughly 23.2% oxygen by mass.

We then do this for every constituent of the gas to find the overall AFR which is simply the mass

fraction of each fuel multiplied by is respective mass AFR.

To determine mass of air required to fill volume:

Total mass of mixture is then equal to

Where is equal to the tube volume

Noting that

and we have

( )

Or

( )

Solving for we get:

( )

Accordingly is simply:

To calculate necessary pulse width for the fuel and air injectors one must reference the mass vs.

time curves provided by the manufacturer. For example, if we are to use a combination of propane

and air at 29 psig (200 kPag) and 87 psig respectively (200 kPag) to deliver 160 mg of air and 50

mg of fuel per injector. We simply reference the injector curves (shown in Figure 92and Figure

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93) using the required mass in milligrams and pressure to find the required pulse width of air to

be roughly 18 ms and fuel to be 11ms.

Figure 92: Mass vs. Pulse Width curves for Propane

Figure 93: Mass vs. Pulse Width curves for Air

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12 APPENDIX C: DRAWINGS AND DIAGRAMS

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13 APPENDIX D: RAW DATA & RESULTS

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0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1683.0 m/s

V32 = 1959.3 m/s

V43 = 1986.5 m/sV43

comb = 1700.6 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1876.3 m/s

DDT Time = 12.46 ms

P1 = 229.2 psig

P2 = 267.8 psig

P3 = 226.8 psig

P4 = 270.0 psig

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0.4284 0.4286 0.4288 0.429 0.4292 0.4294 0.4296 0.4298 0.43 0.4302-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1918.7 m/s

V32 = 1701.5 m/s

V43 = 2104.2 m/sV43

comb = 1867.8 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1908.1 m/s

DDT Time = 9.30 ms

P1 = 219.3 psig

P2 = 347.8 psig

P3 = 271.9 psig

P4 = 277.4 psig

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0.4282 0.4284 0.4286 0.4288 0.429 0.4292 0.4294 0.4296 0.4298 0.43-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1964.0 m/s

V32 = 1689.7 m/s

V43 = 1965.8 m/sV43

comb = 1931.7 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1873.2 m/s

DDT Time = 9.15 ms

P1 = 241.0 psig

P2 = 289.6 psig

P3 = 194.7 psig

P4 = 324.3 psig

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0.4386 0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402 0.4404-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1995.2 m/s

V32 = 1688.9 m/s

V43 = 1959.5 m/sV43

comb = 1938.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1881.2 m/s

DDT Time = 19.58 ms

P1 = 250.0 psig

P2 = 225.2 psig

P3 = 253.8 psig

P4 = 319.5 psig

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0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334 0.4336 0.4338-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1731.5 m/s

V32 = 1899.8 m/s

V43 = 1990.0 m/sV43

comb = 1957.8 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1873.8 m/s

DDT Time = 12.92 ms

P1 = 240.0 psig

P2 = 261.4 psig

P3 = 278.3 psig

P4 = 248.6 psig

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0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1957.7 m/s

V32 = 1807.6 m/s

V43 = 1891.9 m/sV43

comb = 1919.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1885.7 m/s

DDT Time = 12.51 ms

P1 = 244.4 psig

P2 = 244.0 psig

P3 = 340.6 psig

P4 = 312.7 psig

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0.4436 0.4438 0.444 0.4442 0.4444 0.4446 0.4448 0.445 0.4452 0.4454-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

100

V21 = 988.9 m/s

V32 = 919.0 m/s

V43 = 909.7 m/sV43

comb = 539.6 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 939.2 m/s

DDT Time = 24.46 ms

P1 = 84.7 psig

P2 = 89.1 psig

P3 = 99.3 psig

P4 = 90.7 psig

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0.4464 0.4466 0.4468 0.447 0.4472 0.4474 0.4476 0.4478 0.448 0.4482-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

V21 = 930.7 m/s

V32 = 996.1 m/s

V43 = 925.3 m/sV43

comb = 497.8 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 950.7 m/s

DDT Time = 27.26 ms

P1 = 87.5 psig

P2 = 87.1 psig

P3 = 111.9 psig

P4 = 93.5 psig

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0.4312 0.4314 0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

V21 = 1691.3 m/s

V32 = 1932.7 m/s

V43 = 1983.4 m/sV43

comb = 1960.9 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1869.1 m/s

DDT Time = 12.16 ms

P1 = 265.3 psig

P2 = 216.3 psig

P3 = 235.3 psig

P4 = 399.1 psig

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0.4414 0.4416 0.4418 0.442 0.4422 0.4424 0.4426 0.4428 0.443 0.4432-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

V21 = 1001.1 m/s

V32 = 679.4 m/s

V43 = 1850.0 m/sV43

comb = 3862.5 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1176.8 m/s

DDT Time = 22.25 ms

P1 = 101.1 psig

P2 = 90.4 psig

P3 = 104.7 psig

P4 = 184.0 psig

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0.4376 0.4378 0.438 0.4382 0.4384 0.4386 0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1686.9 m/s

V32 = 1946.4 m/s

V43 = 1751.5 m/sV43

comb = 1772.6 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1795.0 m/s

DDT Time = 18.57 ms

P1 = 282.1 psig

P2 = 238.6 psig

P3 = 230.0 psig

P4 = 178.4 psig

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0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334 0.4336 0.4338 0.434 0.4342-80

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

V21 = 1060.4 m/s

V32 = 738.5 m/s

V43 = 1827.0 m/sV43

comb = 822.8 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1208.6 m/s

DDT Time = 13.17 ms

P1 = 98.1 psig

P2 = 102.4 psig

P3 = 118.9 psig

P4 = 104.1 psig

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161

0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334 0.4336 0.4338 0.434 0.4342-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

V21 = 1081.2 m/s

V32 = 992.1 m/s

V43 = 1055.9 m/sV43

comb = 5.2 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1043.1 m/s

DDT Time = 13.21 ms

P1 = 125.0 psig

P2 = 133.8 psig

P3 = 141.7 psig

P4 = 158.0 psig

Page 178: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

162

0.445 0.4452 0.4454 0.4456 0.4458 0.446 0.4462 0.4464 0.4466 0.4468-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

V21 = 1708.4 m/s

V32 = 1942.3 m/s

V43 = 1745.4 m/sV43

comb = 1912.1 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1798.7 m/s

DDT Time = 25.90 ms

P1 = 225.6 psig

P2 = 207.0 psig

P3 = 371.2 psig

P4 = 267.1 psig

Page 179: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

163

0.4264 0.4266 0.4268 0.427 0.4272 0.4274 0.4276 0.4278 0.428 0.4282-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

V21 = 1958.9 m/s

V32 = 2344.2 m/s

V43 = 1341.7 m/sV43

comb = 1904.0 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1881.6 m/s

DDT Time = 7.21 ms

P1 = 228.5 psig

P2 = 297.7 psig

P3 = 490.3 psig

P4 = 310.3 psig

Page 180: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

164

0.4312 0.4314 0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

V21 = 1668.6 m/s

V32 = 1962.8 m/s

V43 = 1835.0 m/sV43

comb = 1936.6 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1822.1 m/s

DDT Time = 12.08 ms

P1 = 299.0 psig

P2 = 319.0 psig

P3 = 226.0 psig

P4 = 412.5 psig

Page 181: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

165

0.4384 0.4386 0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

V21 = 1956.3 m/s

V32 = 1945.7 m/s

V43 = 1715.5 m/sV43

comb = 1690.0 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1872.5 m/s

DDT Time = 19.28 ms

P1 = 228.0 psig

P2 = 266.4 psig

P3 = 384.9 psig

P4 = 193.2 psig

Page 182: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

166

0.43 0.4302 0.4304 0.4306 0.4308 0.431 0.4312 0.4314 0.4316 0.4318-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1945.7 m/s

V32 = 1715.6 m/s

V43 = 1855.3 m/sV43

comb = -15030.8 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1838.9 m/s

DDT Time = 10.82 ms

P1 = 228.7 psig

P2 = 241.8 psig

P3 = 256.1 psig

P4 = 213.8 psig

Page 183: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

167

0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402 0.4404 0.4406-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1693.1 m/s

V32 = 1978.4 m/s

V43 = 1720.9 m/sV43

comb = 1696.9 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1797.4 m/s

DDT Time = 19.73 ms

P1 = 254.8 psig

P2 = 226.3 psig

P3 = 206.2 psig

P4 = 237.5 psig

Page 184: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

168

0.43 0.4302 0.4304 0.4306 0.4308 0.431 0.4312 0.4314 0.4316 0.4318-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1970.9 m/s

V32 = 1692.8 m/s

V43 = 2068.1 m/sV43

comb = 1983.1 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1910.6 m/s

DDT Time = 10.83 ms

P1 = 206.3 psig

P2 = 317.7 psig

P3 = 229.2 psig

P4 = 308.7 psig

Page 185: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

169

0.437 0.4372 0.4374 0.4376 0.4378 0.438 0.4382 0.4384 0.4386 0.4388-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

V21 = 1951.5 m/s

V32 = 1687.6 m/s

V43 = 2358.3 m/sV43

comb = 1958.1 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1999.1 m/s

DDT Time = 18.00 ms

P1 = 206.2 psig

P2 = 213.6 psig

P3 = 220.1 psig

P4 = 446.9 psig

Page 186: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

170

0.445 0.4452 0.4454 0.4456 0.4458 0.446 0.4462 0.4464 0.4466 0.4468-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1705.7 m/s

V32 = 1949.0 m/s

V43 = 1996.3 m/sV43

comb = 1670.4 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1883.6 m/s

DDT Time = 25.89 ms

P1 = 320.0 psig

P2 = 223.8 psig

P3 = 266.8 psig

P4 = 292.7 psig

Page 187: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

171

0.4384 0.4386 0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

V21 = 1972.3 m/s

V32 = 1683.4 m/s

V43 = 1693.9 m/sV43

comb = 1936.4 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1783.2 m/s

DDT Time = 19.21 ms

P1 = 219.2 psig

P2 = 213.3 psig

P3 = 383.7 psig

P4 = 269.5 psig

Page 188: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

172

0.4466 0.4468 0.447 0.4472 0.4474 0.4476 0.4478 0.448 0.4482 0.4484-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

V21 = 2070.2 m/s

V32 = 1863.6 m/s

V43 = 1763.5 m/sV43

comb = 1924.8 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1899.1 m/s

DDT Time = 27.54 ms

P1 = 482.4 psig

P2 = 208.2 psig

P3 = 190.2 psig

P4 = 246.1 psig

Page 189: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

173

0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334 0.4336 0.4338-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1942.5 m/s

V32 = 1697.4 m/s

V43 = 1983.3 m/sV43

comb = 1967.1 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1874.4 m/s

DDT Time = 12.79 ms

P1 = 246.7 psig

P2 = 219.0 psig

P3 = 218.7 psig

P4 = 207.5 psig

Page 190: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

174

0.4354 0.4356 0.4358 0.436 0.4362 0.4364 0.4366 0.4368 0.437 0.4372-200

-100

0

100

200

300

400

V21 = 2009.3 m/s

V32 = 1960.1 m/s

V43 = 1732.8 m/sV43

comb = 1964.5 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1900.7 m/s

DDT Time = 16.27 ms

P1 = 368.3 psig

P2 = 224.6 psig

P3 = 239.6 psig

P4 = 356.1 psig

Page 191: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

175

0.4386 0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402 0.4404-150

-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1970.3 m/s

V32 = 1841.8 m/s

V43 = 1807.2 m/sV43

comb = 1942.7 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1873.1 m/s

DDT Time = 19.59 ms

P1 = 271.2 psig

P2 = 265.7 psig

P3 = 199.2 psig

P4 = 263.6 psig

Page 192: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

176

0.438 0.4382 0.4384 0.4386 0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394 0.4396 0.4398-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

V21 = 1695.7 m/s

V32 = 1959.7 m/s

V43 = 1954.7 m/sV43

comb = 1731.9 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1870.0 m/s

DDT Time = 18.92 ms

P1 = 253.7 psig

P2 = 218.1 psig

P3 = 243.1 psig

P4 = 481.3 psig

Page 193: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

177

0.4358 0.436 0.4362 0.4364 0.4366 0.4368 0.437 0.4372 0.4374 0.4376-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

V21 = 1671.4 m/s

V32 = 1984.6 m/s

V43 = 1977.2 m/sV43

comb = 1967.0 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1877.7 m/s

DDT Time = 16.60 ms

P1 = 262.1 psig

P2 = 414.5 psig

P3 = 252.1 psig

P4 = 375.5 psig

Page 194: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

178

0.4336 0.4338 0.434 0.4342 0.4344 0.4346 0.4348 0.435 0.4352 0.4354-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1706.1 m/s

V32 = 1949.3 m/s

V43 = 1708.6 m/sV43

comb = 2026.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1788.0 m/s

DDT Time = 14.45 ms

P1 = 211.3 psig

P2 = 181.8 psig

P3 = 233.7 psig

P4 = 309.1 psig

Page 195: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

179

0.4288 0.429 0.4292 0.4294 0.4296 0.4298 0.43 0.4302 0.4304 0.4306-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1703.3 m/s

V32 = 1947.5 m/s

V43 = 2021.2 m/sV43

comb = 1963.0 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1890.7 m/s

DDT Time = 9.75 ms

P1 = 243.4 psig

P2 = 256.4 psig

P3 = 246.6 psig

P4 = 225.1 psig

Page 196: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

180

0.431 0.4312 0.4314 0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1897.3 m/s

V32 = 1738.3 m/s

V43 = 1902.3 m/sV43

comb = 1670.6 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1845.9 m/s

DDT Time = 11.96 ms

P1 = 207.8 psig

P2 = 195.1 psig

P3 = 173.5 psig

P4 = 234.2 psig

Page 197: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

181

0.4282 0.4284 0.4286 0.4288 0.429 0.4292 0.4294 0.4296 0.4298 0.43-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1786.4 m/s

V32 = 1864.2 m/s

V43 = 2149.4 m/sV43

comb = 1982.5 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1933.3 m/s

DDT Time = 9.06 ms

P1 = 205.6 psig

P2 = 198.1 psig

P3 = 197.4 psig

P4 = 314.6 psig

Page 198: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

182

0.4398 0.44 0.4402 0.4404 0.4406 0.4408 0.441 0.4412 0.4414 0.4416-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1977.1 m/s

V32 = 1698.3 m/s

V43 = 2351.5 m/sV43

comb = 1945.5 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 2009.0 m/s

DDT Time = 20.66 ms

P1 = 232.0 psig

P2 = 214.1 psig

P3 = 226.9 psig

P4 = 266.9 psig

Page 199: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

183

0.4464 0.4466 0.4468 0.447 0.4472 0.4474 0.4476 0.4478 0.448 0.4482-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1887.3 m/s

V32 = 1777.2 m/s

V43 = 1982.6 m/sV43

comb = 1945.7 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1882.4 m/s

DDT Time = 27.22 ms

P1 = 193.8 psig

P2 = 194.6 psig

P3 = 210.4 psig

P4 = 196.4 psig

Page 200: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

184

0.437 0.4372 0.4374 0.4376 0.4378 0.438 0.4382 0.4384 0.4386 0.4388-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1966.3 m/s

V32 = 1959.8 m/s

V43 = 1695.6 m/sV43

comb = 1814.1 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1873.9 m/s

DDT Time = 17.88 ms

P1 = 202.6 psig

P2 = 230.4 psig

P3 = 210.3 psig

P4 = 243.2 psig

Page 201: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

185

0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402 0.4404 0.4406 0.4408 0.441 0.4412-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1694.4 m/s

V32 = 2007.6 m/s

V43 = 1658.8 m/sV43

comb = 1960.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1786.9 m/s

DDT Time = 20.39 ms

P1 = 241.7 psig

P2 = 207.5 psig

P3 = 191.4 psig

P4 = 191.0 psig

Page 202: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

186

0.4368 0.437 0.4372 0.4374 0.4376 0.4378 0.438 0.4382 0.4384 0.4386-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1707.3 m/s

V32 = 1961.9 m/s

V43 = 1723.9 m/sV43

comb = 1807.5 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1797.7 m/s

DDT Time = 17.65 ms

P1 = 295.9 psig

P2 = 202.9 psig

P3 = 209.3 psig

P4 = 165.8 psig

Page 203: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

187

0.447 0.4472 0.4474 0.4476 0.4478 0.448 0.4482 0.4484 0.4486 0.4488-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 2414.0 m/s

V32 = 1985.8 m/s

V43 = 1700.0 m/sV43

comb = 1690.5 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 2033.3 m/s

DDT Time = 27.97 ms

P1 = 239.2 psig

P2 = 253.6 psig

P3 = 177.1 psig

P4 = 218.6 psig

Page 204: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

188

0.444 0.4442 0.4444 0.4446 0.4448 0.445 0.4452 0.4454 0.4456 0.4458-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1673.2 m/s

V32 = 1942.4 m/s

V43 = 2038.4 m/sV43

comb = 1970.2 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1884.7 m/s

DDT Time = 24.94 ms

P1 = 267.2 psig

P2 = 234.2 psig

P3 = 237.8 psig

P4 = 233.2 psig

Page 205: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

189

0.4314 0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1768.0 m/s

V32 = 1846.3 m/s

V43 = 1980.6 m/sV43

comb = 1953.9 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1865.0 m/s

DDT Time = 12.28 ms

P1 = 250.7 psig

P2 = 222.7 psig

P3 = 189.2 psig

P4 = 206.7 psig

Page 206: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

190

0.4482 0.4484 0.4486 0.4488 0.449 0.4492 0.4494 0.4496 0.4498 0.45-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1973.0 m/s

V32 = 1970.4 m/s

V43 = 1689.3 m/sV43

comb = 1935.8 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1877.6 m/s

DDT Time = 29.17 ms

P1 = 237.2 psig

P2 = 192.8 psig

P3 = 199.1 psig

P4 = 281.4 psig

Page 207: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

191

0.4416 0.4418 0.442 0.4422 0.4424 0.4426 0.4428 0.443 0.4432 0.4434-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1984.5 m/s

V32 = 1684.5 m/s

V43 = 1957.7 m/sV43

comb = -4.9 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1875.6 m/s

DDT Time = 22.51 ms

P1 = 254.4 psig

P2 = 201.3 psig

P3 = 201.9 psig

P4 = 264.8 psig

Page 208: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

192

0.4424 0.4426 0.4428 0.443 0.4432 0.4434 0.4436 0.4438 0.444 0.4442-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1690.3 m/s

V32 = 1980.3 m/s

V43 = 1958.6 m/sV43

comb = 1984.9 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1876.4 m/s

DDT Time = 23.30 ms

P1 = 232.3 psig

P2 = 217.8 psig

P3 = 220.9 psig

P4 = 203.7 psig

Page 209: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

193

0.44 0.4402 0.4404 0.4406 0.4408 0.441 0.4412 0.4414 0.4416 0.4418-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

V21 = 1926.2 m/s

V32 = 1720.1 m/s

V43 = 1950.4 m/sV43

comb = 1971.7 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1865.6 m/s

DDT Time = 20.82 ms

P1 = 207.4 psig

P2 = 166.1 psig

P3 = 229.1 psig

P4 = 415.1 psig

Page 210: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

194

0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334 0.4336 0.4338 0.434 0.4342-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

V21 = 1832.5 m/s

V32 = 1813.8 m/s

V43 = 1975.0 m/sV43

comb = 1997.2 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1873.8 m/s

DDT Time = 13.29 ms

P1 = 355.3 psig

P2 = 175.3 psig

P3 = 239.6 psig

P4 = 212.1 psig

Page 211: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

195

0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334 0.4336 0.4338 0.434-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1678.2 m/s

V32 = 1986.3 m/s

V43 = 1974.1 m/sV43

comb = 1677.2 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1879.5 m/s

DDT Time = 13.00 ms

P1 = 253.9 psig

P2 = 293.8 psig

P3 = 230.0 psig

P4 = 319.1 psig

Page 212: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

196

0.443 0.4432 0.4434 0.4436 0.4438 0.444 0.4442 0.4444 0.4446 0.4448-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

V21 = 1726.1 m/s

V32 = 1948.5 m/s

V43 = 1952.4 m/sV43

comb = 1967.5 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1875.7 m/s

DDT Time = 23.84 ms

P1 = 264.8 psig

P2 = 162.8 psig

P3 = 225.9 psig

P4 = 808.7 psig

Page 213: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

197

0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402 0.4404 0.4406 0.4408 0.441 0.4412-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1701.1 m/s

V32 = 1981.2 m/s

V43 = 1676.3 m/sV43

comb = 1728.4 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1786.2 m/s

DDT Time = 20.30 ms

P1 = 254.3 psig

P2 = 199.3 psig

P3 = 197.7 psig

P4 = 217.7 psig

Page 214: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

198

0.4454 0.4456 0.4458 0.446 0.4462 0.4464 0.4466 0.4468 0.447 0.4472-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1910.2 m/s

V32 = 1731.6 m/s

V43 = 1936.5 m/sV43

comb = 1946.2 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1859.4 m/s

DDT Time = 26.34 ms

P1 = 236.9 psig

P2 = 175.8 psig

P3 = 249.9 psig

P4 = 210.2 psig

Page 215: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

199

0.43 0.4302 0.4304 0.4306 0.4308 0.431 0.4312 0.4314 0.4316 0.4318-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1976.3 m/s

V32 = 1944.9 m/s

V43 = 1699.4 m/sV43

comb = 1942.1 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1873.6 m/s

DDT Time = 10.81 ms

P1 = 212.6 psig

P2 = 162.1 psig

P3 = 320.2 psig

P4 = 193.2 psig

Page 216: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

200

0.4432 0.4434 0.4436 0.4438 0.444 0.4442 0.4444 0.4446 0.4448 0.445-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1937.6 m/s

V32 = 1730.4 m/s

V43 = 1908.8 m/sV43

comb = 1996.6 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1858.9 m/s

DDT Time = 24.05 ms

P1 = 173.8 psig

P2 = 188.3 psig

P3 = 183.8 psig

P4 = 261.1 psig

Page 217: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

201

0.4432 0.4434 0.4436 0.4438 0.444 0.4442 0.4444 0.4446 0.4448 0.445-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1937.6 m/s

V32 = 1730.4 m/s

V43 = 1908.8 m/sV43

comb = 1996.6 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1858.9 m/s

DDT Time = 24.05 ms

P1 = 173.8 psig

P2 = 188.3 psig

P3 = 183.8 psig

P4 = 261.1 psig

Page 218: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

202

0.4338 0.434 0.4342 0.4344 0.4346 0.4348 0.435 0.4352 0.4354 0.4356-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1955.3 m/s

V32 = 1949.7 m/s

V43 = 1704.3 m/sV43

comb = 1684.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1869.7 m/s

DDT Time = 14.60 ms

P1 = 210.2 psig

P2 = 187.6 psig

P3 = 273.8 psig

P4 = 258.3 psig

Page 219: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

203

0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334 0.4336 0.4338 0.434 0.4342 0.4344 0.4346-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1698.8 m/s

V32 = 2009.0 m/s

V43 = 1947.7 m/sV43

comb = 1701.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1885.2 m/s

DDT Time = 13.64 ms

P1 = 238.3 psig

P2 = 304.1 psig

P3 = 208.8 psig

P4 = 197.0 psig

Page 220: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

204

0.4436 0.4438 0.444 0.4442 0.4444 0.4446 0.4448 0.445 0.4452 0.4454-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1644.2 m/s

V32 = 1708.5 m/s

V43 = 1778.1 m/sV43

comb = 2512.7 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1710.3 m/s

DDT Time = 24.54 ms

P1 = 232.4 psig

P2 = 229.9 psig

P3 = 206.9 psig

P4 = 249.1 psig

Page 221: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

205

0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334 0.4336-400

-300

-200

-100

0

100

200

300

400

V21 = 1684.2 m/s

V32 = 1980.3 m/s

V43 = 1795.3 m/sV43

comb = 1697.7 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1820.0 m/s

DDT Time = 12.79 ms

P1 = 219.2 psig

P2 = 344.2 psig

P3 = 222.6 psig

P4 = 274.7 psig

Page 222: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

206

0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334-300

-200

-100

0

100

200

300

400

V21 = 1963.3 m/s

V32 = 1687.6 m/s

V43 = 1950.6 m/sV43

comb = -5.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1867.2 m/s

DDT Time = 12.45 ms

P1 = 255.7 psig

P2 = 229.0 psig

P3 = 252.9 psig

P4 = 328.2 psig

Page 223: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

207

0.429 0.4292 0.4294 0.4296 0.4298 0.43 0.4302 0.4304 0.4306 0.4308-150

-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1760.6 m/s

V32 = 2006.8 m/s

V43 = 1926.3 m/sV43

comb = 1679.9 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1897.9 m/s

DDT Time = 9.86 ms

P1 = 221.3 psig

P2 = 257.2 psig

P3 = 174.9 psig

P4 = 228.7 psig

Page 224: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

208

0.4386 0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402 0.4404-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1806.7 m/s

V32 = 1967.0 m/s

V43 = 1697.6 m/sV43

comb = 1676.7 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1823.8 m/s

DDT Time = 19.40 ms

P1 = 293.1 psig

P2 = 251.7 psig

P3 = 242.9 psig

P4 = 232.7 psig

Page 225: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

209

0.4414 0.4416 0.4418 0.442 0.4422 0.4424 0.4426 0.4428 0.443 0.4432-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

V21 = 1963.3 m/s

V32 = 1851.4 m/s

V43 = 1849.3 m/sV43

comb = 1988.5 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1888.0 m/s

DDT Time = 22.24 ms

P1 = 252.2 psig

P2 = 259.4 psig

P3 = 233.5 psig

P4 = 372.0 psig

Page 226: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

210

0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

V21 = 1923.8 m/s

V32 = 1826.1 m/s

V43 = 2165.6 m/sV43

comb = 1925.4 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1971.8 m/s

DDT Time = 12.54 ms

P1 = 242.6 psig

P2 = 392.3 psig

P3 = 217.2 psig

P4 = 308.7 psig

Page 227: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

211

0.4402 0.4404 0.4406 0.4408 0.441 0.4412 0.4414 0.4416 0.4418 0.442-200

-100

0

100

200

300

400

V21 = 1963.0 m/s

V32 = 1955.4 m/s

V43 = 1774.7 m/sV43

comb = 1938.0 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1897.7 m/s

DDT Time = 20.99 ms

P1 = 235.2 psig

P2 = 255.5 psig

P3 = 224.4 psig

P4 = 310.9 psig

Page 228: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

212

0.4348 0.435 0.4352 0.4354 0.4356 0.4358 0.436 0.4362 0.4364 0.4366-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1745.7 m/s

V32 = 2234.7 m/s

V43 = 1713.1 m/sV43

comb = 1989.7 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1897.8 m/s

DDT Time = 15.79 ms

P1 = 230.5 psig

P2 = 224.1 psig

P3 = 266.7 psig

P4 = 235.4 psig

Page 229: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

213

0.4352 0.4354 0.4356 0.4358 0.436 0.4362 0.4364 0.4366 0.4368 0.437-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1955.5 m/s

V32 = 1936.2 m/s

V43 = 1726.7 m/sV43

comb = 1956.6 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1872.8 m/s

DDT Time = 16.16 ms

P1 = 242.2 psig

P2 = 309.6 psig

P3 = 229.8 psig

P4 = 219.8 psig

Page 230: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

214

0.431 0.4312 0.4314 0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1986.6 m/s

V32 = 1670.1 m/s

V43 = 1968.4 m/sV43

comb = 1963.4 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1875.1 m/s

DDT Time = 11.94 ms

P1 = 243.3 psig

P2 = 178.4 psig

P3 = 268.4 psig

P4 = 319.6 psig

Page 231: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

215

0.4314 0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1981.5 m/s

V32 = 1969.3 m/s

V43 = 1683.9 m/sV43

comb = 1937.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1878.2 m/s

DDT Time = 12.26 ms

P1 = 277.9 psig

P2 = 204.7 psig

P3 = 296.3 psig

P4 = 249.5 psig

Page 232: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

216

0.4356 0.4358 0.436 0.4362 0.4364 0.4366 0.4368 0.437 0.4372 0.4374-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1926.6 m/s

V32 = 1963.6 m/s

V43 = 1704.7 m/sV43

comb = 1676.9 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1864.9 m/s

DDT Time = 16.48 ms

P1 = 231.7 psig

P2 = 201.3 psig

P3 = 236.2 psig

P4 = 223.7 psig

Page 233: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

217

0.4478 0.448 0.4482 0.4484 0.4486 0.4488 0.449 0.4492 0.4494 0.4496-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1688.8 m/s

V32 = 1959.3 m/s

V43 = 1713.2 m/sV43

comb = 1705.1 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1787.1 m/s

DDT Time = 28.72 ms

P1 = 301.8 psig

P2 = 319.6 psig

P3 = 267.8 psig

P4 = 197.6 psig

Page 234: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

218

0.442 0.4422 0.4424 0.4426 0.4428 0.443 0.4432 0.4434 0.4436 0.4438-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1804.0 m/s

V32 = 1845.3 m/s

V43 = 2381.6 m/sV43

comb = 1965.7 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 2010.3 m/s

DDT Time = 22.97 ms

P1 = 271.8 psig

P2 = 277.8 psig

P3 = 261.1 psig

P4 = 319.2 psig

Page 235: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

219

0.4432 0.4434 0.4436 0.4438 0.444 0.4442 0.4444 0.4446 0.4448 0.445-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

V21 = 1693.9 m/s

V32 = 1937.3 m/s

V43 = 2067.8 m/sV43

comb = 1772.6 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1899.7 m/s

DDT Time = 24.08 ms

P1 = 232.4 psig

P2 = 220.1 psig

P3 = 222.9 psig

P4 = 364.9 psig

Page 236: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

220

0.4312 0.4314 0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1966.3 m/s

V32 = 1693.8 m/s

V43 = 1937.8 m/sV43

comb = 1976.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1866.0 m/s

DDT Time = 12.12 ms

P1 = 259.6 psig

P2 = 189.9 psig

P3 = 232.6 psig

P4 = 195.9 psig

Page 237: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

221

0.4398 0.44 0.4402 0.4404 0.4406 0.4408 0.441 0.4412 0.4414 0.4416-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1966.5 m/s

V32 = 1756.6 m/s

V43 = 2232.8 m/sV43

comb = -5.2 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1985.3 m/s

DDT Time = 20.61 ms

P1 = 229.9 psig

P2 = 196.5 psig

P3 = 267.7 psig

P4 = 235.2 psig

Page 238: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

222

0.4264 0.4266 0.4268 0.427 0.4272 0.4274 0.4276 0.4278 0.428 0.4282-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

V21 = 1977.0 m/s

V32 = 1710.7 m/s

V43 = 1810.2 m/sV43

comb = 1970.6 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1832.7 m/s

DDT Time = 7.21 ms

P1 = 415.9 psig

P2 = 194.7 psig

P3 = 209.4 psig

P4 = 225.7 psig

Page 239: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

223

0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1907.4 m/s

V32 = 1702.5 m/s

V43 = 1956.5 m/sV43

comb = 1963.5 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1855.5 m/s

DDT Time = 12.53 ms

P1 = 241.0 psig

P2 = 212.2 psig

P3 = 243.1 psig

P4 = 210.7 psig

Page 240: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

224

0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334 0.4336 0.4338-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1705.4 m/s

V32 = 1996.4 m/s

V43 = 1687.5 m/sV43

comb = 1688.8 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1796.4 m/s

DDT Time = 12.88 ms

P1 = 296.0 psig

P2 = 278.5 psig

P3 = 212.8 psig

P4 = 268.6 psig

Page 241: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

225

0.4414 0.4416 0.4418 0.442 0.4422 0.4424 0.4426 0.4428 0.443 0.4432-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1909.8 m/s

V32 = 1757.3 m/s

V43 = 2261.8 m/sV43

comb = 1981.5 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1976.3 m/s

DDT Time = 22.22 ms

P1 = 256.4 psig

P2 = 262.0 psig

P3 = 239.9 psig

P4 = 289.1 psig

Page 242: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

226

0.4312 0.4314 0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1694.3 m/s

V32 = 1955.2 m/s

V43 = 1996.8 m/sV43

comb = 1679.0 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1882.1 m/s

DDT Time = 12.02 ms

P1 = 272.5 psig

P2 = 247.5 psig

P3 = 291.7 psig

P4 = 216.4 psig

Page 243: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

227

0.4292 0.4294 0.4296 0.4298 0.43 0.4302 0.4304 0.4306 0.4308 0.431-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1745.1 m/s

V32 = 1906.3 m/s

V43 = 1982.1 m/sV43

comb = 1969.6 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1877.8 m/s

DDT Time = 10.06 ms

P1 = 240.4 psig

P2 = 218.0 psig

P3 = 194.4 psig

P4 = 202.9 psig

Page 244: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

228

0.4386 0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402 0.4404-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1687.1 m/s

V32 = 1973.1 m/s

V43 = 1957.7 m/sV43

comb = 1679.5 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1872.6 m/s

DDT Time = 19.48 ms

P1 = 287.7 psig

P2 = 176.2 psig

P3 = 196.8 psig

P4 = 268.8 psig

Page 245: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

229

0.4406 0.4408 0.441 0.4412 0.4414 0.4416 0.4418 0.442 0.4422 0.4424-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1780.1 m/s

V32 = 1831.7 m/s

V43 = 1945.6 m/sV43

comb = 1960.1 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1852.5 m/s

DDT Time = 21.45 ms

P1 = 232.4 psig

P2 = 228.9 psig

P3 = 204.1 psig

P4 = 205.2 psig

Page 246: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

230

0.4284 0.4286 0.4288 0.429 0.4292 0.4294 0.4296 0.4298 0.43 0.4302-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1675.8 m/s

V32 = 1973.4 m/s

V43 = 2012.2 m/sV43

comb = 1738.2 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1887.1 m/s

DDT Time = 9.36 ms

P1 = 234.1 psig

P2 = 255.1 psig

P3 = 246.5 psig

P4 = 219.6 psig

Page 247: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

231

0.4366 0.4368 0.437 0.4372 0.4374 0.4376 0.4378 0.438 0.4382 0.4384-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1672.7 m/s

V32 = 1977.8 m/s

V43 = 1949.8 m/sV43

comb = 1781.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1866.8 m/s

DDT Time = 17.47 ms

P1 = 259.8 psig

P2 = 228.0 psig

P3 = 242.3 psig

P4 = 208.4 psig

Page 248: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

232

0.4348 0.435 0.4352 0.4354 0.4356 0.4358 0.436 0.4362 0.4364 0.4366-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1989.6 m/s

V32 = 1696.4 m/s

V43 = 1991.3 m/sV43

comb = -5.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1892.5 m/s

DDT Time = 15.75 ms

P1 = 237.8 psig

P2 = 198.6 psig

P3 = 216.3 psig

P4 = 253.9 psig

Page 249: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

233

0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334 0.4336-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

V21 = 1962.2 m/s

V32 = 1768.4 m/s

V43 = 1876.7 m/sV43

comb = 1966.1 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1869.1 m/s

DDT Time = 12.74 ms

P1 = 378.2 psig

P2 = 293.9 psig

P3 = 231.9 psig

P4 = 210.8 psig

Page 250: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

234

0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334 0.4336 0.4338 0.434 0.4342-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1718.8 m/s

V32 = 1978.7 m/s

V43 = 1872.5 m/sV43

comb = 1688.1 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1856.7 m/s

DDT Time = 13.39 ms

P1 = 209.5 psig

P2 = 187.3 psig

P3 = 162.3 psig

P4 = 202.9 psig

Page 251: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

235

0.4384 0.4386 0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1964.4 m/s

V32 = 1817.3 m/s

V43 = 1835.1 m/sV43

comb = 1962.1 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1872.3 m/s

DDT Time = 19.27 ms

P1 = 255.2 psig

P2 = 214.2 psig

P3 = 225.4 psig

P4 = 266.8 psig

Page 252: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

236

0.4376 0.4378 0.438 0.4382 0.4384 0.4386 0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1685.1 m/s

V32 = 1987.6 m/s

V43 = 1945.4 m/sV43

comb = 1998.9 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1872.7 m/s

DDT Time = 18.47 ms

P1 = 206.9 psig

P2 = 252.1 psig

P3 = 193.4 psig

P4 = 293.4 psig

Page 253: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

237

0.4344 0.4346 0.4348 0.435 0.4352 0.4354 0.4356 0.4358 0.436 0.4362-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1959.0 m/s

V32 = 1703.8 m/s

V43 = 1950.6 m/sV43

comb = 1997.1 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1871.1 m/s

DDT Time = 15.36 ms

P1 = 230.6 psig

P2 = 203.5 psig

P3 = 166.0 psig

P4 = 180.7 psig

Page 254: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

238

0.439 0.4392 0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402 0.4404 0.4406 0.4408-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1913.9 m/s

V32 = 1978.7 m/s

V43 = 1714.3 m/sV43

comb = 1676.2 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1868.9 m/s

DDT Time = 19.78 ms

P1 = 199.9 psig

P2 = 306.6 psig

P3 = 204.8 psig

P4 = 207.5 psig

Page 255: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

239

0.429 0.4292 0.4294 0.4296 0.4298 0.43 0.4302 0.4304 0.4306 0.4308-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1979.0 m/s

V32 = 1738.8 m/s

V43 = 2263.9 m/sV43

comb = 1821.5 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1993.9 m/s

DDT Time = 9.94 ms

P1 = 249.5 psig

P2 = 201.4 psig

P3 = 242.5 psig

P4 = 259.6 psig

Page 256: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

240

0.435 0.4352 0.4354 0.4356 0.4358 0.436 0.4362 0.4364 0.4366 0.4368-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1712.0 m/s

V32 = 1941.0 m/s

V43 = 2000.8 m/sV43

comb = 1697.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1884.6 m/s

DDT Time = 15.89 ms

P1 = 247.0 psig

P2 = 186.4 psig

P3 = 237.4 psig

P4 = 328.9 psig

Page 257: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

241

0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1698.9 m/s

V32 = 1964.0 m/s

V43 = 1711.8 m/sV43

comb = 1971.4 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1791.6 m/s

DDT Time = 12.45 ms

P1 = 342.0 psig

P2 = 242.6 psig

P3 = 241.8 psig

P4 = 226.2 psig

Page 258: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

242

0.4382 0.4384 0.4386 0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

V21 = 1720.4 m/s

V32 = 1944.1 m/s

V43 = 1994.7 m/sV43

comb = 1687.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1886.4 m/s

DDT Time = 19.07 ms

P1 = 418.8 psig

P2 = 193.0 psig

P3 = 268.4 psig

P4 = 302.0 psig

Page 259: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

243

0.4354 0.4356 0.4358 0.436 0.4362 0.4364 0.4366 0.4368 0.437 0.4372-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1977.4 m/s

V32 = 1965.8 m/s

V43 = 1978.0 m/sV43

comb = 1683.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1973.7 m/s

DDT Time = 16.35 ms

P1 = 243.8 psig

P2 = 288.1 psig

P3 = 246.2 psig

P4 = 240.2 psig

Page 260: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

244

0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334 0.4336 0.4338-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

V21 = 1708.0 m/s

V32 = 1954.0 m/s

V43 = 2044.7 m/sV43

comb = 2003.0 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1902.2 m/s

DDT Time = 12.85 ms

P1 = 248.3 psig

P2 = 219.8 psig

P3 = 211.2 psig

P4 = 547.7 psig

Page 261: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

245

0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402 0.4404 0.4406-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1682.7 m/s

V32 = 1974.3 m/s

V43 = 1702.3 m/sV43

comb = 1755.3 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1786.4 m/s

DDT Time = 19.66 ms

P1 = 209.8 psig

P2 = 207.8 psig

P3 = 248.3 psig

P4 = 183.6 psig

Page 262: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

246

0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1975.7 m/s

V32 = 1693.5 m/s

V43 = 1943.3 m/sV43

comb = 1961.1 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1870.9 m/s

DDT Time = 12.54 ms

P1 = 214.6 psig

P2 = 190.2 psig

P3 = 191.1 psig

P4 = 259.7 psig

Page 263: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

247

0.4316 0.4318 0.432 0.4322 0.4324 0.4326 0.4328 0.433 0.4332 0.4334-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1970.4 m/s

V32 = 1950.5 m/s

V43 = 1699.0 m/sV43

comb = 1984.4 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1873.3 m/s

DDT Time = 12.48 ms

P1 = 192.9 psig

P2 = 193.9 psig

P3 = 252.7 psig

P4 = 264.0 psig

Page 264: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

248

0.4284 0.4286 0.4288 0.429 0.4292 0.4294 0.4296 0.4298 0.43 0.4302-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1917.7 m/s

V32 = 1730.9 m/s

V43 = 1980.2 m/sV43

comb = 1958.8 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1876.3 m/s

DDT Time = 9.27 ms

P1 = 250.7 psig

P2 = 228.3 psig

P3 = 207.3 psig

P4 = 242.8 psig

Page 265: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

249

0.4286 0.4288 0.429 0.4292 0.4294 0.4296 0.4298 0.43 0.4302 0.4304-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1954.0 m/s

V32 = 1756.0 m/s

V43 = 1930.7 m/sV43

comb = 1984.8 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1880.2 m/s

DDT Time = 9.51 ms

P1 = 266.4 psig

P2 = 201.1 psig

P3 = 213.4 psig

P4 = 176.9 psig

Page 266: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

250

0.4368 0.437 0.4372 0.4374 0.4376 0.4378 0.438 0.4382 0.4384 0.4386-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

V21 = 1931.1 m/s

V32 = 1453.8 m/s

V43 = 1972.2 m/sV43

comb = 1722.9 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1785.7 m/s

DDT Time = 17.69 ms

P1 = 224.2 psig

P2 = 243.4 psig

P3 = 178.7 psig

P4 = 232.5 psig

Page 267: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

251

0.4362 0.4364 0.4366 0.4368 0.437 0.4372 0.4374 0.4376 0.4378 0.438-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

V21 = 1868.3 m/s

V32 = 1615.5 m/s

V43 = 2046.2 m/sV43

comb = 1853.4 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1843.4 m/s

DDT Time = 17.19 ms

P1 = 221.5 psig

P2 = 258.1 psig

P3 = 185.6 psig

P4 = 404.8 psig

Page 268: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

252

0.4384 0.4386 0.4388 0.439 0.4392 0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1695.8 m/s

V32 = 1771.0 m/s

V43 = 1875.2 m/sV43

comb = 1705.8 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1780.7 m/s

DDT Time = 19.29 ms

P1 = 222.1 psig

P2 = 202.6 psig

P3 = 225.0 psig

P4 = 269.9 psig

Page 269: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

253

0.4394 0.4396 0.4398 0.44 0.4402 0.4404 0.4406 0.4408 0.441 0.4412-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

V21 = 1714.7 m/s

V32 = 1784.0 m/s

V43 = 1850.2 m/sV43

comb = 1718.9 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1783.0 m/s

DDT Time = 20.24 ms

P1 = 206.7 psig

P2 = 206.3 psig

P3 = 170.3 psig

P4 = 255.4 psig

Page 270: Investigation of Pulse Detonation Engines; Theory, Design

254

0.4372 0.4374 0.4376 0.4378 0.438 0.4382 0.4384 0.4386 0.4388 0.439-50

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

V21 = 1520.0 m/s

V32 = 1633.9 m/s

V43 = 1972.5 m/sV43

comb = 1435.6 m/s

Avg. Vel. = 1708.8 m/s

DDT Time = 18.12 ms

P1 = 348.5 psig

P2 = 309.3 psig

P3 = 276.2 psig

P4 = 321.5 psig