Numerical Study of Detonation Processes in Rotating Detonation Engine and its Propulsive Performance

Abstract

Abstract Numerical studies on detonation wave propagation in rotating detonation engine and its propulsive performance with one- and multi-step chemistries of a hydrogen-based mixture are presented. The computational codes were developed based on the three-dimensional Euler equations coupled with source terms that incorporate high-temperature chemical reactions. The governing equations were discretized using Roe scheme-based finite volume method for spatial terms and second-order Runge-Kutta method for temporal terms. One-dimensional detonation simulations with one- and multi-step chemistries of a hydrogen-air mixture were performed to verify the computational codes and chemical mechanisms. In two-dimensional simulations, detonation waves rotating in a rectangular chamber were investigated to understand its flowfield characteristics, where the detailed flowfield structure observed in the experiments was successfully captured. Three-dimensional simulations of two-waved rotating detonation engine with an annular chamber were performed to evaluate its propulsive performance in the form of thrust and specific impulse. It was shown that rotating detonation engine produced constant thrust after the flowfield in the chamber was stabilized, which is a major difference from pulse detonation engine that generates repetitive and intermittent thrust.