On the Evolution of Plane Detonations

J. F. Clarke, D. R. Kassoy, N. E. Meharzi, N. Riley, R. Vasantha
1990 Proceedings of the Royal Society A  
259 ] IO Vol. 429. A (8 June 1990) 260 precursor shock. This consequence of reductions in reaction rates could not be described as surprising; the reason for making a feature of it here is much more to do with the fact that our numerical calculations reveal some important details of the processes that take place in this particular form of transition. A brief account of the physical model, its formulation and numerical solution, is given in §2. In §3 we turn to description and analysis of the
more » ... a acquired from this Navier-Stokes model of combined combustion and gas-dynamical activity. The first part of §3 deals with those relatively fast events that lead to ZND-wave formation at the precursor shock and, in particular, identifies what appears to be a general combination of three physically distinct events that are experienced, in sequence, by each fluid particle. This 'triplet' consists of, first, precursor shock, second, essentially unsteady induction domain, and finally, quasi-steady fast flame. The second part of §3, which describes the slower events that lead eventually to ZND-wave formation behind the precursor shock contains a detailed analysis and substantiation of the existence of the fast flame, which prompts us to reiterate the fact that 'triplet' combinations occur in the early stages of both fast and slow events. The paper concludes with some brief comments on current work that builds on the lessons learned from our present studies. J. F. Clarke and others 2. F ormulation and n um erical pr o c e d u r e s
doi:10.1098/rspa.1990.0060 fatcat:i2drtauepvdypo2j62obha45ea