ON THE DETERMINATION OF THE SPECIFIC HEAT FLUX VALUE IN A PULSE DETONATION ENGINE’S CHAMBER

Abstract

Abstract. The development of detonation engines (DE) is one of the most promising areas of rocket and space engine manufacturing. They are more efficient as compared to the liquid rocket engines and are structurally simpler. At the same time, the detonation engine chamber’s structure is subjected to much higher thermal loads. Therefore, at the development stage of the DEs, to create an efficient cooling system for the engine’s chamber, it is necessary to be able to determine the value of thermal energy, which is absorbed by the walls of the DE’s chamber. The goal of this research is to determine the specific heat flux from the detonation products towards the walls of the pulse detonation engine’s (PDE) chamber. The task of the work is to establish the methodology for calculating the values of the specific heat flux transmitted to the walls of the PDE’s chamber. The main tools for solving this problem are the method of mathematical simulation using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and the method of regression analysis. The main results of this study: the possibility to utilize the well-known Ievlev methodology to determine the convective specific heat flux for the PDE’s chamber was analyzed; it was shown that for the conditions of the PDE’s chamber, the Ievlev methodology calculation results differ significantly from the experimental data, which can be explained by the presence of a clearly pronounced non-stationary nature of the detonation process; it was proven the utilization of the Viegas formula to obtain the values of the convective specific heat flux for the PDE’s chamber gives better results as compared to the known experimental data and the results of the mathematical simulations; it was also demonstrated that the average integral value of the specific heat flux, determined by the described methodology, can be used to calculate the thermal state of the PDE's chamber. Conclusion: a methodology for calculation of the specific heat flux value for the pulse detonation engine's chamber was proposed. The obtained calculation results are in good agreement with the results of mathematical simulations and known experimental data. The described methodology can be used in the design of cooling systems for the pulse detonation engine’s chambers.