V ol . 15　 N o .

2 　　　　　　　　　　　　 CHIN ESE JO U RN A L O F A ER O N A U T IC S　　　　　　　　　　　　　　M ay 2002

Investigation of Detonative Combustion Characteristics

HA N Qi-x iang, WANG Jia-hua, WAN G Bo
( I nstit ut e of Energy & P ow er , N anj ing University of A eronautics and A str onaut ics,
N anj ing 210016, China )

Abstract: 　T he pressure and deflagr atio n-to -detonation tra nsit ion ( D DT ) char acteristics o f acety-
lene and o xy gen flame w ere studied in a deto natio n tube. T he pr essur e histo ry and the flame veloc-
it y along t he tube w er e m ea sur ed w ith high fr equency pr essur e t ransducers and io n pr obes . By a n-
alyzing the dat a r eco r ded in the ex periment , the detonation w av e pressure , post -w ave pr essur e and
D DT distance w ere o bt ained, tog ether w ith the effects o f the initia l pressure v ary ing fr om 2 ×
104 P a to 10 5 Pa, equiv alence r atio n fro m 0. 3 to 1. 0, and mix tur e concent ration fr om 60% to
100% . It wa s found t hat the detonation pressure w as decr eased respect ively with the decr ease o f
initial pressure, equiv alence rat io and mix ture concent rat ion, but the DDT distance was enlar g ed.
T he DDT distance w as fo und particular ly sensit ive t o mix tur e concentr ation .
Key words: 　detonation; co mbustion; deflagr ation-to -deto nat ion t ransition; pulse deto nat ion en-
g ine
爆 震燃烧的特性研究. 韩启祥, 王家骅, 王波. 中国航空学报( 英文版) . 2002, 15( 2) : 72- 76.
摘 　要: 研究了爆震管中爆震燃烧的压力特 性及爆燃到爆震转 捩( DDT ) 特性。在乙炔与氧 气的预
混 气中, 通 过高频响 压力传感器 及自行研制 的离子探 针, 测量 了不同工 况下爆震燃 烧的压力 与火
焰 传 播速 度的 变化 历程, 获 得了 爆震 波 峰值 压 力、波后 压力 及 DDT 距 离 随混 气 初始 压力 ( 2×
104 P a～1×105 P a) 、混气当量比( 0. 3～1. 0) 及混气浓度( 60% ～100% ) 的变化规律。试验结果表明:
降 低预混气的压力、
混气当量比及浓度会使爆震波的峰 值压力、
波后压力不同程度的下降, DDT 距
离 增大, 其中 DD T 距离对混气浓 度最敏感。
关 键词: 爆震; 燃烧; 爆燃到爆震转捩; 脉冲爆震发动机
文 章编号: 1000-9361( 2002) 02-0072-05　　 　中图分类号: V 231. 2+ 2　　　文献标识码 : A

　 　 Recently , pulse det onatio n eng ines ( P DE )
hav e received considerable at t ent io n. It s principle
[ 1]
and po tential super io rity have been r ecognized.
Yet t here is st il l a significant amount o f w ork t o be
do ne befo re it can be put t o act ual pr act ice. T he
major pr obl em her e is a thoro ug h underst anding of
t he charact erist ics of det onat ive co mbustio n.
Based o n det onat ion characterist ics , t he def la-
grat ion t o det onation tr ansit ion ( DDT ) sit e can be
judged upon exam inat io n o f t he pressure char act er -
ist ic curv e and t he f lame speed characterist ic
[ 2, 3]
curve . T he pressure charact erist ic curve also
serves as the basis f or analysis of st ruct ure int ensi-
[ 4]
ty and P DE specific im pulse . T he DDT dist ance
not onl y det ermines t he lengt h of t he P DE but also
has a sig nif icant eff ect on it s perfo rmance. In t his
st udy, a m ixt ure o f acet ylene and ox yg en is consid-
ered. How ev er , t he conclusions obt ained here are
also applicable t o cases ot her t han t his kind of m ix -
t ure.
1　Ex perimental Setup and
Ex perimental Procedure
1. 1　 Experi mental setup
T he exper im ent al set up is show n in F ig . 1, in-
cluding t he det onat io n t ube , induction sy st em , ig-
nitio n syst em , and instr ument at ion system . T he
deto nat ion t ube has a l engt h of 1m w it h a diam et er

Received date : 2001-11-01; Revision recei ved dat e : 2002-03-16

A rt icl e U R L: ht t p: / / ww w . hk xb. net. cn/ cja/ 2002/ 02/ 0072/
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M ay 2002 In vest igat ion of Detonat ive Combu st ion C har acterist ics
of 40mm . T he induct ion system includes st or ag e
Fig. 1　 Schematic o f exper imental set up
pump , a part it io n membrane g as pump , a v acuum
pr essure gauge , t ubing and valves . T he ig nit ion
sy st em consist s o f a high energy spark plug provid-
ing sparks of 1 joul e energ y . T he inst rument at ion
sy st em consist s of a set of pressur e gaug es t hat
co nt ains 4 fast respo nse P CB pressure t ransducers
( 500 kHz response f requency and r ise t ime o f 1 s)
and a 4 channel adapt or . Flame speed is m easured
w ith a self -made ion probe syst em ( less t han 1 s
rise t ime) . All sig nals are recorded by an 8-chan-
nel real-t im e recorder ( 1. 25 M Hz simult aneous
sam pling rate ) .
1. 2　Experimental procedure
T he det onat ion t ube is f irst evacuat ed t o an
absolut e pr essure of 200Pa t o elim inat e residue gas
eff ect s. F uel and ox yg en are t hen int roduced, t he
pr opo rt io n of each being reg ulat ed by its part ial
pr essure. A cir culation pump is t hen used to en-
hance t he m ix ing of the gases. Finally, an ignit er
ignites t he mixt ure result ing in it s det onat ive com -
bust ion. T he det onatio n w av e is t ransmit ted t o a
diaphrag m that is readily rupt ured, rupt ur e pres-
5
sure of t he diaphr ag m being about 1. 5 × 10 Pa.
T he det onat ion w ave ex its t o t he air finally. Dur -
ing t he w hole pro cess, all pressure t ransducers and
ion probes signals ar e recor ded by t he real-t im e
recor ding system .
Flam e speed o f det onative com bustion is mea-
sured by an io n pr obe sy st em. In t he fl am e, t here
is a large amount of ions w it h elect ric charg e. t he
pr obe gives an impulse signal w hen t hese ions go
© 1994-2010 China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. http://www.cnki.net
・ 73・
t anks f or acet ylene, ox ygen and air , a v acuum
past it . T he dist ance bet w een t he t w o pro bes di-
vided by t he t ime lag of the second signal gives t he
f lame speed.
2　T est Results and Analysis
2. 1　Analysis of characteristics of detonative com-
bustion
F ig . 2 show s t he t im e hist ory of pr essure vari-
at ion at a cert ain point in t he t ube in t he co urse of
a det onative co mbustion. In t he f igure, X is t he
dist ance f rom t he ig nit er end of t he t ube, and P 1 is
initial pressure of t he mix ture . T he m ix t ur e pres-
Fig. 2　 T he hist or y o f deto natio n pr essur e
sure remains at it s init ial v alue in f ront of a v er y
prom inent pressur e spike . T his sho ws t hat t he
deto nat ion w ave w hich is composed of a shock
w ave and a com bust ion w ave is tr ansmit ted at su-
per sonic speed so t hat the mix t ure ahead of t he
w ave is not af fected by t he dist urbance of combus-
t ion. Upon arrival of the deto nat ion w ave, t he lo-
cal pressure jumps up t o a peak value P 2 or P CJ .
While the deto nat ion w ave pro pag at es f or-
w ard, the burned gas f ollo w s up at a cert ain
 ・ 74・ HA N Q i-x iang , W A N G Jia -hua , WA N G Bo
speed. Because one end of the tube is seal ed a se-
ries of r ar ef act ion w av es is g enerat ed and t ransmit -
ted f orw ard fr om t his end and pressure dro ps f rom
P 2 t o P 3 . T he g as pressure varies up and dow n
around P 3 unt il t he det onat io n w ave exit s t he tube,
a series of rarefact ion w aves emanat ing fr om t he
open end tr av el int o t he tube and ex pel the burned
gas. T he perio d w hile t he gas pressure is main-
tained at P 3 is named t he period of constant pres-
sure ex pansion t3. T he period w hile the pressure
dr ops f rom P 4 to am bient pressure is named t he pe-
riod of declining pr essure expansion t 4, Ref err ing
t o t he pr essure hist or y on t he t hrust w all ( t he
sealed end ) it is not ed t hat t he peak pressure is
never ex erted on it . During t3 a st eady t hrust is ex -
er ted on t he end w all and during t4 this t hrust grad-
ually drops t o zero . Since t he peak pressur e P CJ is
never ex er ted on t he t hrust w all, it has no dir ect
co nt ribut ion t o t he t hrust, but it cert ainly af fect s
t he st ruct ur e intensit y. Af t er the gas has ex panded
t o ambient pressure , over -ex pansion takes place
and r esult s in a negat ive t hrust on t he end w all.
Desig n of t he PDE aim s at minimizing t he negat ive
t hr ust , and this is accom plished by opening t he in-
let valve in t ime t o ensure t he charg ing of t he t ube
w ith fresh mix ture, and t he nex t PDE cycles be-
gin.
Af ter the m ixt ure in t he t ube is ignited , t he
fl am e v elo cit ies alo ng the t ube are present ed in
Fig . 3. It is seen that t he f lame speed initially re-
mains at a mo derat e value, but at a cert ain dist ance
F ig . 3　V ar iat ion o f flame speed
fr om t he sealed end it suddenly jumps t o a peak
value . Fart her aw ay , it decreases som ew hat and
event uall y r em ains at a relatively const ant value.
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CJA
T his is because in t he case of lim it ed ig nit ion ener-
g y , w hil e t he ignit io n gives r ise t o deflagr ation
combust ion, it cannot immediat ely provo ke det o-
nativ e combust ion. T he flame speed of deflagr ation
is subso nic . If t he t ube has a suf f icient leng t h , t he
pressur e w aves creat ed by t he defl ag rat io n f lame
pile up int o a shock w ave and event ually causes a
t ransit ion o f t he combust ion mode. T he f lame
speed of t he det onat iv e w ave is superso nic , so up-
on the t ransitio n o f t he com bustion m ode t he f lame
speed ex periences a sudden r ise. In t he co urse of
DDT , t her e has one o r mo re ex pl osion cent er s
f orm ing and amplify ing at a cert ain point in t he
t urbulent react ion zo ne in the f lame fro nt [ 2] . T hen
a reinf orced shock w ave is f ormed in the mixt ure.
At t his st ag e, t he deto nat ion w ave is a str ong det -
onat ion w ave, but it is not st able and so on de-
g rades t o a self -sustained C-J det onation w ave.
T his is w hy the f lame speed drops af ter an abrupt
r ise .
In t he PDE, t he short er t he DDT , t he g reat er
t he benefit f rom det onat ive combust ion. In Fig . 3
t he DDT distance is 80 t o 120 mm .
2. 2　Ef fect of initial pressure on detonati ve com-
bustion characteristics
F igs. 4 and 5 give respectively t he dependence
o f t he det onat ive com bust ion pressur e and DDT
dist ance o n t he initial pressure of the premix ed
g ases. F rom t he figures it is seen t hat t he low er
t he init ial pressure of the premix ed g as, t he low er
t he det onat io n pr essure spike , and t he larger t he
DDT dist ance. T his is because at lo w init ial pres-
sure t he speed of com bust ion react io n is low and
t he rate of heat release is lo w . T his incr eases t he
DDT dist ance and decr eases strengt h of t he det o-
natio n wave. Variat ion o f t he peak pressur e w it h
t he init ial pressure is sim ilar t o t hat of t he post -
w ave pressure P 3 . T he f act t hat t he pressure be-
hind the w ave decreases more slow ly than t he peak
pressur e sho w s t hat w hen t he rate of heat r elease
is decreased t he ef fect on t he peak pressure is more
prom inent . But at very low initial pressur es de-
crease of pressure behind the w ave is sooner t han
t hat of t he peak pressur e. T his is possibly due t o
M ay 2002 In vest igat ion of Detonat ive Combu st ion C har acterist ics ・ 75・

t he fact t hat w hen t he heat r elease is low ered t o a
cert ain l evel, t he ef fect of heat co nduction f rom t he
w all is more import ant . At t he same t ime, because
t he w av e fr ont is t hin and t he w ave speed is high,
heat co nductio n f rom t he w all has a relat iv ely small
eff ect on the pressure peak .
m oderat e since a litt le surplus oxy gen helps in t he
collisio n of molecules of dif ferent g ases . But in t he
case of very low values of equivalence rat io t he f or-
m er ef fect is by f ar t he more import ant and t he
pressur e dro p is t hen serious.
F ig . 7 gives t he ef fect of t he equivalence rat io
o n DDT dist ance. T he DDT pro cess is basically an
accumulat io n of energy and t heref ore t he am ount
o f ener gy r elease per unit volume is a m att er of
m uch co ncer n. T his is w hy the DDT dist ance in-
creases w it h t he decr easing equivalence rat io.

F ig . 4　Effect of initial pr essur e on detonation pressur e

Fig. 6　Effect o f equiv alence ratio on detonation pr es-

sur e

F ig . 5　 Effect of initial pr essur e on flame speed

Fr om F ig. 5 it is seen t hat w hen t he init ial

pr essure is not seriously low ered, the DDT dis-
tance increment is sm all, and w hen t he init ial pres-
5
sure fall s below 0. 75 × 10 Pa t he DDT dist ance
quickly incr eases. At an init ial pressure o f 0. 3×
Fig. 7　Effect o f equiv alence ratio on detonation pr es-
105 Pa , no DDT is observed w it hin t he scope of in-
sur e
st rument at ion ( 40-560 mm ) . T his sho w s t hat t he
When iner t gas nit rog en is int ro duced int o a
dependence of DDT distance o n init ial pressure is
st oichiomet ric m ix t ure o f acet yl ene and ox ygen ,
nonl inear .
2. 3　Effect of equi valence ratio and mixture con-
centration on characteristics of detonative
combustion
Fig . 6 gives t he variation of t he det onat ive
pr essure wit h the equivalence rat io . As surplus
ox yg en is incr eased in t he m ix t ur e , t he peak pres-
sure as w ell as t he pressure behind t he w ave beg ins
t o dro p because of reduct ion in heat release per u-
F ig . 8　Effect of mixt ur e concent ration
nit v olume of m ixt ure . Ho wever , t his drop is only
© 1994-2010 China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. http://www.cnki.net
 ・ 76・ HA N Q i-x iang , W A N G Jia -hua , WA N G Bo
mix ture concent ration is decreased. Variat ion of
det onative com bustion charact erist ics wit h concen-
tr ation is show n in F ig . 8 and Fig . 9. Wit h de-
crease o f concent rat ion no t onl y do es DDT dist ance
increase remarkably but det onatio n pressure is also
reduced. T his is because w it h t he int roductio n of
nit ro gen heat release fr om unit vo lum e of m ixt ure
is reduced and chance of coll ision of t he t wo kinds
of m olecules is also reduced. T hese facts al l ill -ef -
fect t he chemical react io n. When t he volume per -
cent ag e concent ration falls below 60. 5% , no DDT
is o bserv ed w it hin t he scope of inst rum ent at io n.
T his m eans t hat DDT o ccurs beyo nd a dist ance of
650 mm .
F ig . 9　Effect o f mix tur e co ncentr atio n on DDT dist ance
3　Conclusions
Hist ory of pressur e variat ion of det onat ive
co mbustio n can be divided int o 3 periods, t he pres-
sure spike, the period of co nst ant pressure ex pan-
sion and the per io d o f declining pressure ex pan-
sion . T he peak pressure is not ex ert ed on t he
t hr ust wall , so it pr oduces no t hr ust . During t he
co nstant pressure ex pansion period a st eady t hr ust
is ex er ted o n t he end w all. During t he period of de-
clining pressur e expansion, t he t hr ust gradually
decr eases . T her eaf t er , ov er -ex pansion produces a
neg at ive thrust . T he PDE desig n aims at minimiz-
ing t his neg at iv e t hrust and t his is accom plished by
t imely opening of t he inlet v alve t o ensure quick
charg ing of t he t ube w it h a f resh m ix t ur e.
DDT is clear ly denot ed by an abrupt rise in
fl am e speed fro m subsonic to superso nic speed. In
fact , the occurrence of DDT is ident if ied by this
change.
Wit h the dro p of the init ial pressur e, t he deto -
nat ion pressur e dr ops. T he pr essure behind t he
w ave drops more slow ly t han t hat of t he peak. At
t he same tim e, DDT distance increases. When t he
5
init ial pr essure dro ps belo w 0. 75 × 10 P a , t he
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CJA
DDT dist ance increases r apidly .
When t he equivalence rat io dro ps f rom 1. 0,
t he det onativ e pressure dr ops only mo derat ely , but
t he DDT distance increases rapidly , bearing a lin-
ear r elat ion t o the drop of the equivalence ratio .
When nit ro gen is int roduced int o t he acet y-
lene ox yg en mix t ure , det onation pr essure decreas-
-
es w hile DDT distance increases rapidly . When
percentag e vo lum e concent rat ion drops t o 60. 5% ,
DDT is not observed w it hin t he scope of instru-
m ent at ion . F rom t his , it is co ncluded t hat using
air inst ead of ox yg en as ox idizer , DDT w ill occur
at a distance f ar beyond 650mm .
References
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engine[ R] . A IA A 94-0263, 1994.
[ 2] 　 陈义良, 张孝春, 孙慈, 等. 燃 烧原理[ M ] . 北京: 航空工业出
版社, 1992. 185- 230.
( Ch en Y L , Zhang X C , S un C , e t al. Combus t ion prin ciple
[ M ] . Beijing : A vi at ion Indus t ry Pres s, 1992. 185 - 230. ( in
Ch ines e) )
[ 3] 　 Hin key J B, Bu ssin g T , K aye L. S hock t ube experiment s f or
t he devel op ment of a hydr ogen-f ueled puls e det onat ion engine
[ R ] . A IA A 95-2578, 1995.
[ 4] 　 Cooper M , J ackson S, Sh eph erd J E. Ef fect of defl agrat ion-
t o-detonat ion tr ans it ion on pul se det onat ion engine im pulse
[ R ] . G A LCIT R ep or t FM 00-3, 2000.
Biographies:
HAN Qi-xiang 　 Bo rn in 1968, M . S.
G raduate in 1993 o f t he Dept . of Po wer
Engineering o f N anjing U niv ersit y of
A er onautics and A str onautics, he then
became a teacher ther e. His r esearch in-
ter est is in combustio n and pulse deto na-
tion engine. He has published 8 scient ific
papers in var io us perio dicals . T el: ( 025) 4892200-2317,
4895927, E-m ail: hqixiang@ jlo nline. co m
WANG Jia-hua　 Pr ofessor of N anjing U -
niv ersity o f A er onautics and A str onau-
tics , and now he is dev oted t o the study
o f co mbustion and pulse deto nat ion en-
g ine. T el : ( 025 ) 4892200-2215,
4895927.
WANG Bo 　 Bo r n in 1978, he is now
studying for master deg ree in Institute of
Energ y and Po wer of Nanjing U niv ersit y
o f A ero nautics and Astr onautics.