2010 Volume 52 Issue 159 Pages 86-93
Pulse detonation engines (PDEs) are expected to be the next-generation engine systems, and are expected to have applications in various fields. One of the fundamental problems faced during the development of PDEs is the deflagration to detonation transition (DDT). In order to realize a PDE, it is essential to shorten a parameter of detonation transition called a detonation induction distance (DID). However, the mechanism underlying the DDT process and methods to shorten DID in narrow channels have not yet been understood. An experimental study on DDT process in a narrow rectangular channel with a height of 1-5 mm and a width of 8 mm was carried out by employing pressure transducers, ionization probes, and sooted plate technique in oxyhydrogen mixtures. The effects of the tube height and equivalence ratio on pressure detonation limits were discussed. Detonation velocity, DDT process, and DID were discussed on the basis of pressure history and soot track record. Overdriven detonation and attenuated detonation were observed in the narrow channel. The DID value measured on the basis of the soot track record in the present study was in the range of the empirical formula obtained by the other researchers.
