Visual experimental investigation on stable operating process of the plane-radial rotating detonation engine

Abstract

Using visual observation methods, assisted by synchronous measurement of dynamic pressure and ion tracks, the flow field structures of stable operating modes in plane-radial rotating detonation engine (RDE) are revealed, and the influences of injection conditions on the RDE stable operating range are analyzed. The flow field structures of single-wave mode, symmetric dual-wave mode and triple-wave mode are observed. Typical structures such as rotating detonation wave (RDW), oblique shock wave, combustion products, deflagration surface and contact discontinuity are obtained in the flow fields. Obvious reactants pre-combustion ahead of detonation wave is found in the combustor, and low-frequency oscillation phenomenon is gained under specific conditions. With the increase of wave-head number in combustor, the detonation-wave height and parameters decrease. The RDW propagating velocity and pressure peak are higher in single-wave operating mode, but the flow fields in multi-wave mode are more stable. Both the RDW velocity and pressure peak increase generally with equivalence ratio. Keeping the equivalent ratio (ER) fixed, as the mass flow rate increases, the number of detonation wave in combustor increases, and the operating mode transforms from single-wave mode to multi-wave mode. Keeping the mass flow rate fixed, when the equivalent ratio deviates from stoichiometric ratio, the operating mode varies from multi-wave mode to single-wave mode. Additionally, with the mass flow rate increasing, the ER upper and lower limits of multi-wave mode decrease linearly, and the operating range of dual-wave mode remains unchanged. Mass flow rate has little influence on the ER lower limit of the RDE stable operation, which is approximately ER=0.55 in this structure.