Pulsed detonation engine. Numerical study

Abstract
A renewal of interest to study the possibilities of using the gas detonation as a thrust - producing mechanism has been observed during the last ten years. This interest can be motivated by the wide simplicity of the design, the low cost of exploitation and the acceptable performance, so that the PDE can give to this propulsion concept a place as a serious competitor device. The aim of this paper consists on an analysis of the performance of a Hydrogen-Air mixture PDE, computed by the PLEXUS code, using an accurate CFD numerical scheme, for many geometric and operating configurations. The main characteristic of this approach is the possibility of using a geometry that could be structured or unstructured with the associated properties. In particular, the modeling of the detonation propagation can make into account the hydrodynamic effects and combustion one. The interaction of the gas jet, stemming from the combustion chamber, with the surrounded air is also examined and discussed. This may lead to study the PDE in flight configuration in particular with atmosphere configuration.