Structure and multiplicity of detonation regimes in heterogeneous hybrid mixtures

Abstract

The problem of propagation of steady nonideal detonations in heterogeneous hybrid mixtures is studied in the case of a hydrogen-air gaseous mixture with suspended fine aluminum particles. Due to the difference in the order of magnitude of the characteristic induction and combustion times of gaseous mixture and solid particles, the process of energy release behind the leading shock front occurs over an extended period of time and in a nonmonotonic way. An approximate numerical model has been improved to find the steady propagation regimes and investigate their structure. The problem is analyzed in the frame of the theory of the mechanics of multiphase media with mass, momentum and heat exchanges between particles and gases. The one-dimensional ZND model of detonation with losses to the lateral boundaries is used. It is shown that three different steady propagation regimes may exist: the Pseudo-Gas Detonation (PGD), the Single-Front Detonation (SFD) and the Double-Front Detonation (DFD). The numerical results match the available experimental results obtained previously. The influence of the fundamental parameters of the system on the domains of existence of the different regimes is displayed. Moreover, it is shown that, according to the theory of nonideal detonations with nonmonotonic energy release, there may exist a multiplicity of detonation modes. However, the total number of solutions actually obtained by numerical calculations differs from that predicted by the theory. The reasons for these discrepancies are discussed.