Detonation re-initiation mechanism following the Mach reflection of a quenched detonation

This experimental study addresses the re-initiation mechanism of detonation waves following the Mach reflection of a shock–flame complex. The detonation diffraction around a cylinder is used to reproducibly generate the shock–flame complex of interest. The experiments are performed in methane–oxygen. We use a novel experimental technique of coupling a two-in-line-spark flash system with a double-frame camera in order to obtain microsecond time resolution permitting accurate schlieren velocimetry. The first series of experiments compares the non-reactive sequence of shock reflections with the reflection over a rough wall under identical conditions. It was found that the hot reaction products generated along the rough wall are entrained by the wall jet into a large vortex structure behind the Mach stem. The second series of experiments performed in more sensitive mixtures addressed the sequence of events leading to the detonation establishment along the Mach and transverse waves. Following ignition and jet entrainment, a detonation first appears along the Mach stem while the transverse wave remains non-reactive. The structure of the unburned tongue however indicates local instabilities and hot spot formation, leading to the rapid reaction of this gas. Numerical simulations are also reported, confirming the sequence of ignition events obtained experimentally.     

Cell-like structure of unstable oblique detonation wave from high-resolution numerical simulation

A comprehensive numerical study was carried out to investigate the unsteady cell-like structures of oblique detonation waves (ODWs) for a fixed Mach 7 inlet flow over a wedge of 30° turning angle. The effects of grid resolution and activation energy were examined systematically at a dimensionless heat addition of 10. The ODW front remains stable for a low activation energy regardless of grid resolution, but becomes unstable for a high activation energy featuring a cell-like wave front structure. Similar to the situation with an ordinary normal detonation wave (NDW), a continuous increase in the activation energy eventually causes the wave-front oscillation to transit from a regular to an irregular pattern. The wave structure of an unstable ODW, however, differs considerably from that of a NDW. Under the present flow condition, triple points and transverse waves propagate downstream, and the numerical smoke-foil record exhibits traces of triple points that rarely intersect with each other. Several instability-driving mechanisms were conjectured from the highly refined results. Since the reaction front behind a shock wave can be easily destabilized by disturbance inherent in the flowfield, the ODW front becomes unstable and displays cell-like structures due to the local pressure oscillations and/or the reflected shock waves originating from the triple points. The combined effects of various instability sources give rise to a highly unstable and complex flow structure behind an unstable ODW front.     

Mach reflection bifurcations as a mechanism of cell multiplication in gaseous detonations

Detonation waves in gases are unstable and form cellular structures. The cellular structure can range from being very regular, to very irregular, where new modes are continuously formed on the front of the detonation wave. The present work addresses the mechanism of new cell formation in irregular structure detonations. Using idealized one-step chemistry calculations on sufficiently wide domains, as to avoid mode-locking, the present work reveals a novel mechanism for new mode formation in cellular detonations. The mechanism involves the creation of wave bifurcations on the front of the Mach shock following triple shock collisions. The numerical simulations reveal that these new triple points, through further reflections with pre-existing modes in asymmetric cells, can give rise to cell multiplication. Parameters favourable to this mechanism were found in good correlation with parameters leading to irregular cellular structures, as observed in previous experiments.     

Nonequilibrium Zeldovich-von Neumann-Doring theory and reactive flow modeling of detonation

This paper discusses the Nonequilibrium Zeldovich-von Neumann-Doring (NEZND) theory of self-sustaining detonation waves and the Ignition and Growth reactive flow model of shock initiation and detonation wave propagation in solid explosives. The NEZND theory identified the nonequilibrium excitation processes that precede and follow the exothermic decomposition of a large high explosive molecule into several small reaction product molecules. The thermal energy deposited by the leading shock wave must be distributed to the vibrational modes of the explosive molecule before chemical reactions can occur. The induction time for the onset of the initial endothermic reactions can be calculated using high pressure-high temperature transition state theory. Since the chemical energy is released well behind the leading shock front of a detonation wave, a physical mechanism is required for this chemical energy to reinforce the leading shock front and maintain its overall constant velocity. This mechanism is the amplification of pressure wavelets in the reaction zone by the process of de-excitation of the initially highly vibrationally excited reaction product molecules. This process leads to the development of the three-dimensional structure of detonation waves observed for all explosives. For practical predictions of shock initiation and detonation in hydrodynamic codes, phenomenological reactive flow models have been developed. The Ignition and Growth reactive flow model of shock initiation and detonation in solid explosives has been very successful in describing the overall flow measured by embedded gauges and laser interferometry. This reactive flow model uses pressure and compression dependent reaction rates, because time-resolved experimental temperature data is not yet available. Since all chemical reaction rates are ultimately controlled by temperature, the next generation of reactive flow models will use temperature dependent reaction rates. Progress on a statistical hot spot ignition and growth reactive flow model with multistep Arrhenius chemical reaction pathways is discussed. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Detonation simulations in supersonic flow under circumstances of injection and mixing

The unsteady, reactive Navier-Stokes equations with a detailed chemical mechanism of 11 species and 27 steps were employed to simulate the mixing, flame acceleration and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) triggered by transverse jet obstacles. Results show that multiple transverse jet obstacles ejecting into the chamber can be used to activate DDT. But the occurrence of DDT is tremendously difficult in a non-uniform supersonic mixture so that it required several groups of transverse jets with increasing stagnation pressure. The jets introduce flow turbulence and produce oblique and bow shock waves even in an inhomogeneous supersonic mixture. The DDT is enhanced by multiple explosion points that are generated by the intense shock wave focusing of the leading flame front. It is found that the partial detonation front decouples into shock and flame, which is mainly caused by the fuel deficiency, nevertheless the decoupled shock wave is strong enough to reignite the mixture to detonation conditions. The resulting transverse wave leads to further mixing and burning of the downstream non-equilibrium chemical reaction, resulting in a high combustion temperature and intense flow instabilities. Additionally, the longitudinal and transverse gradients of the non-uniform supersonic mixture induce highly dynamic behaviors with sudden propagation speed increase and detonation front instabilities.     

Numerical study on three-dimensional C-J detonation waves: detailed propagating mechanism and existence of OH radical

An unsteady three-dimensional simulation is performed for a hydrogen/air C–J detonation in a rectangular tube, where a detailed chemical reaction model is used to reveal the C–J detonation structure. In this simulation, detailed propagating detonation structures for a diagonal mode are described in three-dimensions. The detonation front structures, the line of triple points, and the strong explosions at the corners of the rectangular tube are revealed by using a three-dimensional numerical visualization. From the spatial isosurface profiles of H₂ mass fraction, it is confirmed that the triple point lines have a role of “shutter” to generate unburned gas pockets and become of a ring shape behind the detonation front due to its explosion. The explosion process and its influence on an induction delay are observed by visualizing the spatial isosurface profiles of OH mass fraction. Moreover, a high “peninsula-shaped” OH mass fraction area, which has been experimentally reported, is reproduced on the side wall of the rectangular tube.     

Numerical analysis on behavior of dilute water droplets in detonation

Two-dimensional numerical simulations are conducted based on the Eulerian-Lagrangian method to model a gaseous detonation laden with monodispersed water droplets. The premixed mixture is a slightly diluted stoichiometric hydrogen oxygen mixture at low pressure. The outcome of the interactions of the droplet breakup with the cellular instabilities and the non-uniform flow behind the leading front is analyzed. The simulation results are also analyzed using instantaneous flow fields and Favre average profiles for water droplets. Breakup occurs mainly near the detonation front. The mean final diameter of the water droplets at the end of the breakup process is the same regardless of the initial strength of the leading shock or whether it is lower or greater than the Chapman-Jouguet value. The polydispersity comes from local phenomena behind the leading shock, such as forward jets coming from triple point collisions, transverse waves and a combination of both. The total breakup time is longer than that estimated from post-shock conditions and the present finding is in line with the previous experimental results on spray detonation.     

凝聚炸药爆轰波在高声速材料界面上的折射现象分析

凝聚炸药爆轰在边界高声速材料约束下传播时,爆轰波会在约束材料界面上产生复杂的折射现象.本文针对凝聚炸药爆轰波在高声速材料界面上的折射现象展开理论和数值模拟分析.首先通过建立在爆轰ZND模型上的改进爆轰波极曲线理论给出爆轰波折射类型,然后发展一种求解爆轰反应流动方程的基于特征理论的二阶单元中心型Lagrange计算方法来数值模拟典型的爆轰波折射过程.从改进爆轰波极曲线理论和二阶Lagrange方法数值模拟给出的结果看出,凝聚炸药爆轰波在高声速材料界面上的折射类型有四种:反射冲击波的正规折射、带束缚前驱波的非正规折射、带双Mach反射的非正规折射、带λ波结构的非正规折射.     

Formation of transverse waves in oblique detonations

The structure of oblique detonation waves stabilized on a hypersonic wedge in mixtures characterized by a large activation energy is investigated via steady method of characteristics (MoC) calculations and unsteady computational flowfield simulations. The steady MoC solutions show that, after the transition from shock-induced combustion to an overdriven oblique detonation, the shock and reaction complex exhibit a spatial oscillation. The degree of overdrive required to suppress this oscillation was found to be nearly equal to the overdrive required to force a one-dimensional piston-driven detonation to be stable, demonstrating the equivalence of two-dimensional steady oblique detonations and one-dimensional unsteady detonations. Full unsteady computational simulations of the flowfield using an adaptive refinement scheme showed that these spatial oscillations are transient in nature, evolving in time into transverse waves on the leading shock front. The formation of left-running transverse waves (facing upstream) precedes the formation of right-running transverse waves (facing downstream). Both sets of waves are convected downstream away from the wedge in the supersonic flow behind the leading oblique front, such that the mechanism of instability must continuously generate new transverse waves from an initially uniform flow. Together, these waves define a cellular structure that is qualitatively similar to a normal propagating detonation.     

悬浮RDX炸药粉尘爆轰的数值模拟

用两相流模型对悬浮RDX炸药粉尘爆轰波进行了数值模拟。RDX炸药颗粒在爆轰波阵面后的高温高速气流中加速并升温,颗粒表面发生熔化。参考液滴在高速气流作用下剥离的效应,假设炸药熔化部分在高速气流的作用下发生剥离,破碎成极小的颗粒,瞬时发生分解反应,释放出能量支持爆轰波传播。数值模拟了在不同粒径和浓度的悬浮RDX炸药粉尘中爆轰波的发展与传播过程,得到了爆轰波流场中气-固两相的物理量分布,并确定了爆轰波参数。在较低的RDX粉尘浓度条件下,爆轰波阵面压力的峰值曲线出现振荡。当RDX粉尘浓度在80~150 g/m3时,数值模拟得到的爆轰波阵面压力峰值曲线的振荡是规则的;当RDX粉尘浓度为70 g/m3时,爆轰波阵面压力峰值曲线出现不规则振荡。     

空气中激光支持爆轰波实验及理论分析

为了研究激光击穿空气产生的等离子体爆轰波形成机制和传播规律,利用高能量CO2激光器产生强激光,进行了空气中产生激光支持等离子体爆轰波实验。实验中:设置了诱导靶板,用于诱发和定位空气中的激光支持爆轰波;以激光器升压过程球隙放电产生的光信号作为触发源,触发高时间分辨率(纳秒级)的高速相机,记录了激光支持爆轰波的成长和传播全过程。分析了激光支持爆轰波的形成机理和传播规律。采用C-J爆轰理论,计算了激光支持爆轰波的压力和温度。研究结果表明:激光支持等离子体爆轰波形成初期,等离子体爆轰波发光体为球形;随着时间增加,等离子体爆轰波发光体的形状类似流星,且头部为等离子体前沿吸收层,亮度较高,而尾部等离子体温度较低,亮度较弱。等离子体爆轰波高速向激光源的方向移动,爆轰波速度高达18 km/s,温度约为107K。随着激光强度的减弱,爆轰波速度迅速按指数规律衰减,当爆轰波吸收的激光能量不能有效支持爆轰波传播时,爆轰波转变为冲击波。     

Numerical investigation on detonation cell evolution in a channel with area-changing cross section

The two-dimensional cellular detonation propagating in a channel with area- changing cross section was numerically simulated with the dispersion-controlled dissipative scheme and a detailed chemical reaction model. Effects of the flow expansion and compression on the cellular detonation cell were investigated to illustrate the mechanism of the transverse wave development and the cellular detonation cell evolution. By examining gas composition variations behind the leading shock, the chemical reaction rate, the reaction zone length, and thermodynamic parameters, two kinds of the abnormal detonation waves were identified. To explore their development mechanism, chemical reactions, reflected shocks and rarefaction waves were discussed, which interact with each other and affect the cellular detonation in different ways.     

氢氧爆轰波在激波管中的成长机制研究

 针对气相爆轰波成长机制研究,采用压力传感器和高速摄影技术,测试了氢氧混合气体在点火后的火焰波、前驱冲击波以及爆轰波的成长变化过程,计算了冲击波过程参数和气体状态参数,分析了火焰加速机制。实验结果表明,APX-RS型高速摄影系统可用于拍摄气相爆轰波的成长历程;氢氧爆轰波的产生是由于湍流火焰和冲击波的相互正反馈作用,导致反应区内多处发生局部爆炸,爆炸波与冲击波相互耦合,最终成长为定常爆轰波。     

Enhanced DDT mechanism from shock-flame interactions in thin channels

We show experimentally and numerically that when a weak shock interacts with a finger flame in a narrow channel, an extremely efficient mechanism for deflagration to detonation transition occurs. This is demonstrated in a 19-mm-thick channel in hydrogen-air mixtures at pressures below 0.2 atm and weak shocks of Mach numbers 1.5 to 2. The mechanism relies primarily on the straining of the flame shape into an elongated alligator flame maintained by the anchoring mechanism of Gamezo in a bifurcated lambda shock due to boundary layers. The mechanism can increase the flame surface area by more than two orders of magnitude without any turbulence on the flame time scale. The resulting alligator-shaped flame is shown to saturate near the Chapman–Jouguet condition and further slowly accelerate until its burning velocity reaches the sound speed in the shocked unburned gas. At this state, the lead shock and further adiabatic compression of the gas in the induction zone gives rise to auto-ignition and very rapid transition to detonation through merging of numerous spontaneous flames from ignition spots. The entire acceleration can occur on a time scale comparable to the laminar flame time.     

Dynamic transition in the structure of an energetic crystal during chemical reactions at shock front prior to detonation

Mechanical stimuli in energetic materials initiate chemical reactions at shock fronts prior to detonation. Shock sensitivity measurements provide widely varying results, and quantum-mechanical calculations are unable to handle systems large enough to describe shock structure. Recent developments in reactive force-field molecular dynamics (ReaxFF-MD) combined with advances in parallel computing have paved the way to accurately simulate reaction pathways along with the structure of shock fronts. Our multimillion-atom ReaxFF-MD simulations of l,3,5-trinitro-l,3,5-triazine (RDX) reveal that detonation is preceded by a transition from a diffuse shock front with well-ordered molecular dipoles behind it to a disordered dipole distribution behind a sharp front.     

Large-eddy simulations and vortex structures of turbulent jets in crossflow

Using the method of large-eddy simulation, the 3-dimensional turbulent jets in crossflow with stream-wise and transverse arrangements of nozzle are simulated, emphasizing on the dynamical process of generation and evolution of vortex structures in these flows. The results show that the basic vortex structures in literatures, such as the counter-rotating vortex pair, leading-edge vortices, lee-side vortices, hanging vortices, kidney vortices and anti-kidney vortices, are not independent physical substances, but local structures of the basic vortex structure of turbulent jets in crossflow-the 3-D stretching vortex rings originating from the orifice of the nozzle, which is discovered in this study. Therefore, the most important large-scale structures of turbulent jets in crossflow are unified to the 3-D vortex rings which stretch and twist in stream-wise and swing in transverse directions. We also found that the shedding frequencies of vortex rings are much lower than the one corresponding to the appearance of leading-edge and lee-side vortices in the turbulent jets.     

Structure and properties of detonation waves of heterogeneous explosives from the point of view of the hot spots mechanism

It is assumed that the chemical reaction of a detonation transformation, that is, burning, arises first in separate hot spots originated by the explosive compression behind or within the detonation wave front due to heterogeneity of charges, instability of the detonation wave, etc. Then the burning spreads around into the bulk of the explosive and is completed in the Chapman–Jouguet plane, where the detonation product velocity relative to the detonation front is equal to the sound velocity. A simple analytical method proposed early by the authors is used to calculate the expression for the detonation transformation time, from which it follows that there are at least two nondimensional numbers defining the possibility of the realization of the mechanism mentioned above. The first one is the Frank-Kamenetskii number, that is, the relation of the characteristic time of the cooling of the hot spot to the adiabatic induction period at some characteristic temperature of the hot spot. The hot spot mechanism is realized if the Frank-Kamenetskii number is greater than the critical one that determines the minimum possible size of hot spots capable of ignition. The second number is the relation of the detonation transformation time in the presence of hot spots to the reaction time in accordance with classical mechanism. The hot spot mechanism at detonation is realized if this number is less than unity. By means of the numbers proposed, some interpretations of available experimental data concerning the detonation process are given.     

The effects of flame generated turbulence for turbulent-induced deflagration to detonation transition

The turbulent deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) process occurs when a subsonic flame interacts with intense turbulence resulting in spontaneous acceleration and the onset of DDT. The mechanisms that govern the spontaneous ignition are deduced intricately in numerical simulations. This work experimentally explores the conditions that are known precursors to detonation initiation. More specifically, the experiment presented investigates the role of flame-generated compression as a cycle that continuously amplifies until a hotspot forms on the flame front and ignites. The study quantifies the compression comparatively against other flame regimes through ultra-high speed pressure measurements while qualitatively detailing flame generated compression through density gradients via schlieren imaging. Additionally, flow field measurements are quantified throughout the flow using simultaneous particle image velocimetry (PIV) and OH* chemiluminescence. The turbulence fluctuations and flame speeds are extracted from these measurements to identify the reactant conditions where flame-generated compression begins. Collectively, these simultaneous high-speed measurements provide detailed insight into the flame and flow field characteristics where the runaway process occurs. This work ultimately documents direct flow field measurements to extract the contribution of flame-generated turbulence on the turbulent deflagration to detonation transition process.     

On the mechanism of the deflagration-to-detonation transition in a hydrogen-oxygen mixture

The flame acceleration and the physical mechanism underlying the deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) have been studied experimentally, theoretically, and using a two-dimensional gasdynamic model for a hydrogen-oxygen gas mixture by taking into account the chain chemical reaction kinetics for eight components. A flame accelerating in a tube is shown to generate shock waves that are formed directly at the flame front just before DDT occurred, producing a layer of compressed gas adjacent to the flame front. A mixture with a density higher than that of the initial gas enters the flame front, is heated, and enters into reaction. As a result, a high-amplitude pressure peak is formed at the flame front. An increase in pressure and density at the leading edge of the flame front accelerates the chemical reaction, causing amplification of the compression wave and an exponentially rapid growth of the pressure peak, which “drags” the flame behind. A high-amplitude compression wave produces a strong shock immediately ahead of the reaction zone, generating a detonation wave. The theory and numerical simulations of the flame acceleration and the new physical mechanism of DDT are in complete agreement with the experimentally observed flame acceleration, shock formation, and DDT in a hydrogen-oxygen gas mixture.