Propagation of Detonation Waves in Tubes Split from a PDE Thrust Tube

Abstract

A Pulse Detonation Engine (PDE) combusts a fuel air mixture through detonation. Existing designs require spark plugs in each separate thrust tube to ignite premixed reactants. A single thrust tube could require the spark plug to fire hundreds of times per second for long durations. This paper reports on the use of a continuously propagating detonation wave as both a thrust producer and a single ignition source for a multi-tube system. The goal was to minimize ignition complexity and increase reliability by limiting the number of ignition sources. The work includes a systematic investigation of single tube geometric effects on detonations. These results were subsequently used to further examine conditions for splitting detonations i.e. the division of a detonation wave into two separate detonation waves. Einally a dual thrust tube system was built and tested that successfully employed a single spark to initiate detonation in separate thrust tubes.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 2002
Accession Number
ADA454345

Entities

People

  • August J. Rolling
  • Fred R. Schauer
  • Paul I. King

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Combustion
  • Data Acquisition
  • Detonation Waves
  • Detonations
  • Fires
  • Frequency
  • Ignition
  • Ignition Lag
  • Ignition Systems
  • Pressure Transducers
  • Research Facilities
  • Spark Plugs
  • Test Facilities
  • Waves

Readers

  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Rocket Propulsion.