Study on Propagation Characteristics of Detonation Wave in Slotted Elbow

In order to study the shock structure and pressure fluctuation characteristics in the case of unilateral partial limitation due to the rotating detonation wave, a reduced kinetic mechanism based on 19-step reaction and 9 species for equivalent hydrogen/ oxygen was used to simulate the process of detonation propagating in a slotted curved pipe. Transport processes such as thermal conduction, diffusion and viscosity were ignored. The results show that when a detonation wave propagates in a slotted elbow, transmitted shock is generated due to the high-pressure behind the detonation and the reflection wave in curved pipe. However, the shock wave within ring gap is not purely dependent on the high pressure in the elbow. The high-pressure zone produced by some reflected shock waves in the annular gap will also produce the transmitted shock wave in the detonation region. The second oblique shock waves in the annular gap are divided into two parts by contact surface, and the part of the front of the contact surface has a larger inclination angle. When the slot is on the outer side, the inclination of the detonation wave is greater than that at the inner side. When the ring gap is in the outside and inside, the pressure peak that is greater than the pressure behind of first oblique shock is generated due to the intersection and reflection of shock waves. The maximum pressure peak in the annular gap is about twice that of the first oblique shock wave when the ring gap is in the inside. When the slot is located on the inner side, the range of high pressure is 36.4% larger than that when the slot is located on the outer side. © 2019, Editorial Department of Journal of Propulsion Technology. All right reserved.