Computational Study on Unsteady Mechanism of Spinning Detonations

Spinning detonations propagating in a circular tube were numerically investigated with a one-step irreversible reaction model governed by Arrhenius kinetics. Activation energy is used as parameter as 10, 20, 27 and 35, and the specific heat ratio and the heat release are fixed as 1.2 and 50. The time evolution of the simulation results was utilized to reveal the propagation mechanism of single-headed spinning detonation. The track angle of soot record on the tube wall was numerically reproduced with various levels of activation energy, and the simulated unique angle was the same as that of the previous reports. The maximum pressure histories of the shock front on the tube wall showed stable pitch at Ea=10, periodical unstable pitch at Ea=20 and 27 and unstable pitch consisting of stable, periodical unstable and weak modes at Ea=35, respectively. In the weak mode, there is no Mach leg on the shock front, where the pressure level is much lower than the other modes. The shock front shapes and the pressure profiles on the tube wall clarified the mechanisms of these stable and unstable modes. In the stable pitch at Ea=10, the maximum pressure history on the tube wall remained nearly constant, and the steady single Mach leg on the shock front rotated at a constant speed. The high and low frequency pressure oscillations appeared in the periodical unstable pitch at Ea=20 and 27 of the maximum pressure history. The high frequency was one cycle of a self-induced oscillation by generation and decay in complex Mach interaction due to the variation in intensity of the transverse wave behind the shock front. Eventually, sequential high frequency oscillations formed the low frequency behavior because the frequency behavior was not always the same for each cycle. In unstable pitch at Ea=35, there are stable, periodical unstable and weak modes in one cycle of the low frequency oscillation in the maximum pressure history, and the pressure amplitude of low frequency was much larger than the others. The pressure peak appeared after weak mode, and the stable, periodical unstable and weak modes were sequentially observed with pressure decay. A series of simulations of spinning detonations clarified that the unsteady mechanism behind the shock front depending on the activation energy.