Investigation on propagation characteristics of rotating detonation wave in a radial-flow turbine engine combustor model

Abstract In this experiment, the propagation characteristics of rotating detonation waves in a radial-flow turbine engine combustor model were investigated. An annular combustor, with an inner diameter of 94 mm and an outer diameter of 106 mm was used as the rotating detonation combustor, and the H 2 and air were separately injected into the combustor. The stability of the detonation wave propagation with and without a guide vane at the exit of the combustor was analyzed. The velocity of the detonation wave for the guide vane tests is higher than that of no guide vane tests, and the guide vane has a significant effect on the oscillating pressure. For the no guide vane tests, only the two-wave collision mode of detonation wave is obtained for all the equivalence ratios, and there is an unstable phenomenon of the collision point displacement. For the guide vane tests, the detonation-wave gradually stabilizes with the increase of the equivalence ratio, and then the stability gradually weakens. The phenomenon of the low-frequency pressure fluctuation occurs with the equivalence ratio larger than 1, and the fluctuation frequency is lower than 400 Hz.