Experimental Study on the Propagation Characteristics of Rotating Detonation Wave with Liquid Hydrocarbon/High-Enthalpy Air Mixture

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Rotating detonation engines (RDEs) are a promising propulsion technology featuring high thermal efficiency and a simple structure. To adapt the practical engineering applications of ramjet RDEs, rotating detonation combustion using a liquid hydrocarbon and pure air mixture will be required. This paper presents an experimental study on the propagation characteristics of rotating detonation waves with a liquid hydrocarbon and high-enthalpy air mixture in a hollow cylindrical chamber. The parameters, such as the equivalence ratio and inlet mass flux, are considered in this experiment. The frequency and the propagation velocity of rotating detonation combustion are analyzed under typical operations. The experimental results show that the peak pressure and propagation velocity of the rotating detonation wave are close to the C-J theoretical values under the inlet mass flux of 400 kg/(m2s). Both the propagation velocity and peak pressure of the rotating detonation wave decrease as the mass flux and equivalence ratio are reduced while the number of detonation wavefronts increases. Detonation wave instability tends to occur when the inlet mass flux decreases. There is a transition progress from thermo-acoustic combustion to rotating detonation combustion in the experiment under the condition of mass flux 350 kg/(m2s) and the equivalent ratio 0.8. The static pressure in the chamber is higher during detonation combustion than during thermo-acoustic combustion. These experimental results provide evidence that rotating detonation waves have the potential to significantly improve propulsion performance. The findings can serve as a valuable reference for the practical engineering application of rotating detonation engines.