Effects of Copper Foam Wall/Obstacles on the Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition

Abstract

To investigate the process of deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) of the copper foam wall in the pulse detonation engine, detonation combustion experiments were carried out using ethylene and oxygen-enriched air (oxygen concentration: 40%) as fuel and oxidant. The effects of copper foam pore size, thickness, installation length, and structure on the flame acceleration were studied experimentally, as were the effects of blockage ratio and mixture equivalence ratio. The results show that among the four pore sizes selected, the 10 PPI case produces the fastest flame development on the porous flat wall. For conditions with successful detonation, the 10 PPI case reduces the DDT distance and time by 34.97 and 42.57%, respectively, compared with the 40 PPI case. Regarding the installation length of copper foam, it is found that copper foam with a large pore size (10 PPI) and a short installation length achieves stable detonation. The general structure of copper foam was also analyzed, including the porous flat wall, porous obstacle, and solid obstacle with the same installation length. These three structures effectively accelerate the initiation of detonation. Particularly, porous obstacles show more pronounced effects on flame acceleration than the commonly used solid obstacles. These results are instructive for optimizing the short-distance ignition ability of pulsed detonation engines.