Behavior of detonation propagation in mixtures with concentration gradients

Behavior of detonation waves in mixtures with concentration gradients normal to the propagation direction was studied experimentally. Mixtures with various concentration gradients were formed by sliding the separation plate which divides a detonation chamber from a diffusion chamber in which a diffusion gas was initially introduced. A stoichiometric hydrogen–oxygen mixture was charged in the detonation chamber, while oxygen or nitrogen was filled in the diffusion gas chamber. Temporal concentration measurement was conducted by the infrared absorption method using ethane as alternate of oxygen. Smoked foil records show a deformation of regular diamond cells to parallelogram ones, which well corresponds to local mixture concentration. Schlieren photographs reveal the tilted wave front whose angle is consistent with the deflection angle of the detonation front obtained from trajectories of the triple point. The local deflection angle increases with increase in local concentration gradient. Calculation of wave trajectory based on the ray tracing theory predicts formation of the tilted wave front from an initial planar front.