Shock-induced combustion with oblique shocks- comparison of experiment and kinetic calculations

Abstract

Abstract : Theoretical analyses made recently have shown the advantages of supersonic combustion for a hypersonic ramjet. The present work deals with experimental investigations of shock-induced H2 air combustion in the constant pressure region aft of an oblique shock and with kinetic calcula tions for the H2-air reaction. Quenched gaseous components for the early parts of the chemical reaction were analyzed to determine hydrogen molecule reaction rate, and a comparison was made of the experimental H2 reaction rate with the current chemical kinetic computations. Agreement with one kinetic calculation for the H2-air reaction at constant pressure was within the experimental error, indicating the possible use of kinetics to predict hypersonic ramjet com bustion performance when shock-induced combustion is used. The concept of shock-induced combustion is defined and compared with the usual conditions where detonations are observed, and it is con cluded that detonations are a special case of shock-induced combustion.