Hydrocodes » Gaseous Detonations
One of our earliest involvements in reactive flow research was in the field of gaseous detonations. Here we have collaborated closely with workers at Aberystwyth University who specialise in gaseous explosion experiments. We have incorporated finite rate chemistry into our codes and compared them with a range of results from Aberystwyth.
The still to the right shows a comparison of prediction with an experiment carried out by C.Sands of the Shock Waves group headed by Dr. Geraint Thomas.
The experiment in the figure addresses the dynamic development of a shock wave in a reactive mixture hitting an obstacle. The incident shock is not sufficiently strong to initiate a detonation in the gas but the reflected shock is. There is a delay (induction time) before any significant energy release occurs. When it does a super detonation wave catches up with the reflected shock and eventually drives a detonation wave through the system.
There is a wealth of hydrodynamic detail driven by these reactions and we illustrate the dynamic behaviour in the movie below.
