Detailed simulation of the pulsating detonation wave in the shock-attached frame

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the numerical investigation of the stability of propagation of pulsating gas detonation waves. For various values of the mixture activation energy, detailed propagation patterns of the stable, weakly unstable, irregular, and strongly unstable detonation are obtained. The mathematical model is based on the Euler system of equations and the one-stage model of chemical reaction kinetics. The distinctive feature of the paper is the use of a specially developed computational algorithm of the second approximation order for simulating detonation wave in the shock-attached frame. In distinction from shock capturing schemes, the statement used in the paper is free of computational artifacts caused by the numerical smearing of the leading wave front. The key point of the computational algorithm is the solution of the equation for the evolution of the leading wave velocity using the second-order grid-characteristic method. The regimes of the pulsating detonation wave propagation thus obtained qualitatively match the computational data obtained in other studies and their numerical quality is superior when compared with known analytical solutions due to the use of a highly accurate computational algorithm.