On critical conditions for detonation initiation by shock reflection from obstacles

Abstract.

A series of experiments supported by numerical simulations are reported on the interaction between a planar incident shock and a single obstacle. The test mixtures used were stoichiometric hydrogen and oxygen diluted with either argon or nitrogen at sub-atmospheric pressures. The main aim of the study was to determine the conditions under which a reflected detonation was generated. Observed critical conditions are compared with a simple predictive criterion based on the ratio of auto-ignition delay time behind an ideal reflected shock to the acoustic transit time across the face of the obstacle.