Stress and Vibration Analysis of a PDC (Pulse Detonation Chamber)

Abstract

Abstract Pulse detonation engines work similar to pulsejets, with the major difference taking place in the combustion mechanism. Having detonation, instead of conventional combustion comes with certain benefits, but also, a couple of major issues which will be addressed in this paper. These changes come as a result of the increased amount of energy released by the explosive process, with much higher fluid velocities and temperatures that easily surpass those of conventional engines. These high values of the thermodynamic parameters prove to be a tough technological problem when it comes to producing this type of engines, so this paper aims at analyzing the evolution of these parameters throughout a working cycle of the Tangential Impulse Detonation Engine (TIDE) and how they affect the internal structure of the detonation chamber. The non-steady character of the thermodynamic parameters from a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation will be used a as a starting point for the Finite Element Analysis (FEA), which will help determine whether or not, the structure can withstand the immense load that comes with such violent processes. The final part of this article will provide optimization criteria to decrease the loads generated by the pulsed detonations.