A simulation of initiation process of detonations

Abstract

A numerical simulation of gaseous detonations is performed by using the Random Choice Method (RCM) to predict an initiation process and, as a result, a detonation induction distance (DID) for a given mixture strength and initiation energy. The flow field is assumed to be unsteady, one‐dimensional, and non‐dissipative. A chemical reaction is assumed to be one‐step irreversible with a reaction order being unity. The experiments were performed by using a straight detonation tube with a driver section filled with a driver gas (initiator) to initiate detonation in a driven section of the tube. Gaseous mixtures to be tested were hydrogen‐oxygen mixtures with various initial compositions. A strength of the initiator was represented by an initial pressure of the initiator gas, i.e., a stoichiometric hydrogen‐oxygen mixture. The DID was estimated from sooted track records on which traces of explosions during the initiation processes was clearly observed. The agreement between the simulation and the experiment is q...