Numerical Investigation of Kerosene-Based Pulse-Detonation Loading on the Metal Tubes

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical investigation on the kerosene–air mixture detonation in tubes and the effect of thermal softening on the structural response of the tube of varying thicknesses. The chemical reaction of kerosene–air mixture is modeled by the Arrhenius rate law with an ideal-gas equation of state, and the plastic deformation of the metal tube is described by the Mie–Gruneisen equation of state and Johnson–Cook strength model. To track the multimaterial interface motion and to determine the temperature-varying wall conditions, a hybrid particle-level-set method within the ghost-fluid framework is used. The pulse-detonation loading of metal tube is validated with experimental cell size, and the burst pressure of copper and 304 stainless tubes for varying wall thicknesses and wall temperatures is compared with the theory. The safety aspect of detonation tube is addressed by the observation that the prediction of critical tube thickness with thermal softening included is a better fit to the theoretical value than no thermal softening included.