Formation of Multiheaded Rotating Detonation

The flow in a combustion chamber in the form of an annular gap between plates with multiheaded rotating detonation has been studied numerically. It is assumed that a homogeneous propane–air mixture with given stagnation parameters enters the combustion chamber through elementary nozzles evenly distributed on its bounding outer ring. The gas-dynamic parameters of the mixture are determined as functions of the stagnation parameters and the static pressure in the gap. Conditions for the formation of a given number (three to eight) of waves in a multiheaded detonation wave in terms of the dimensions of the combustion chamber and the parameters of initiators required were obtained. The maximum number of waves for given dimensions of the combustion chamber is established. The existence of the maximum critical number of waves in multiheaded detonation is associated with the stoppage of the supply of the combustible mixture. Under the considered geometrical parameters of the flow region, one to eight rotating detonation waves are formed. It is found that in the case of an uneven arrangement of initiators, there is a gradual alignment of the mutual angles between the waves making up the multiheaded detonation. Calculations were performed on the Lomonosov supercomputer at the Moscow State University using an original software package implementing a modified Godunov method and a one-step reaction kinetic model.