On the role of turbulence in detonation induced by Mach stem reflection

Abstract.

A series of experiments conducted by Chan has shown that while some shock waves may not be strong enough to induce detonation when they collide with an obstacle the resulting Mach stem will induce detonation if it collides with a subsequent obstruction. A series of numerical simulations, however, failed to demonstrate the expected results if either the Euler or laminar Navier-Stokes equations are solved. On the other hand, calculations using the Favre averaged Navier-Stokes equations with a k-$\epsilon$-F turbulence model are able to reproduce the experimental results, indicating that turbulent effects may play an important role in the ignition process. A detailed examination of the results shows that turbulence causes the formation of activated kernels in a similar process to that observed in deflagration-detonation transition. The simulations in this paper have been undertaken using a modern high resolution hydrocode and a reduced kinetics mechanism for hydrogen combustion. The paper describes the reduced mechanism, the solution methods employed in the hydrocode and discusses the results of the simulations and their implications.