Numerical investigations on reignition behavior of detonation diffraction

Abstract

In this paper, by adopting a fifth-order weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme with a third-order TVD Runge–Kutta time stepping method for two-dimensional reactive Euler equations, a parallel code is developed, and reignition behavior after a self-sustaining detonation from the tube into free space filled with H2/O2 mixtures is investigated. The numerical results show that the initial pressure has a great influence on the detonation cellular width, and that as the initial pressure increases, the cellular width gradually decreases and the cellular shape changes from irregular structure to regular structure, demonstrating the detonation instability to stability transition. When the initial pressure is larger than 1.2 atm, the detonation wave expands over the edge of the splitter plate, reignition can come into being because enough transverse waves collide with each other at the leading edge of the expanding front. When the initial pressure is 1.2 atm, hot spots appear on the front, and ignite the combustible gas near the hot spots after detonation diffraction. When the initial pressure is 1.0 atm, reignition fails. These findings hint that a critical initial pressure exists between 1.0–1.2 atm for direct reignition after detonation diffraction.