Numerical and Experimental Study of Detonation Propagation in a Rectangular Tube with Obstacles

When detonation propagates in tubes with obstacles or with variable section, it is fundamentally an important issue to elucidate how detonation fails or re-initiates in such tubes. In the present study experiments and numerical simulation are performed to investigate mechanisms of failure and re-initiation of detonation propagation in obstacled tubes. First of all, numerical simulation is validated by comparing data with experiments to analyze propagation mechanism of detonation in obstacled tubes. Two different obstacle configurations, staggered and symmetrical array, are used to see detonation failure and re-initiations. It is found that detonation failure occurs when it collides with obstacles to become expansion waves and re-initiations behind combustion wave fronts for both staggered and symmetrical cases. Jet ignition promotes fast deflagration to detonation in the symmetrical obstacle configurations.