Talk Abstract:

Some Recent Experimental Studies of Transition to Detonation in Gaseous Mixtures

Geraint O. Thomas
Department of Physics University of Wales
Aberystwyth
Ceredigion SY23 3BZ UK
got@aber.ac.uk

The paper will report the results of recent experimental observations of flame acceleration and possible subsequent transition to detonation. The experiments include macroscopic field-scale observations of flame acceleration and onset of detonation in a straight pipe as well as more detailed laboratory based observations of shock-flame interaction and flame growth following direct ignition of gases at elevated temperatures. Based on these observations, and supporting numerical computations, the paper concludes with a discussion of the nature of transition to detonation in gases. Parallels are also drawn with some observations of deflagration to detonation transition in solid explosives.

Back to Workshop Schedule

Back to High-Speed Combustion in Gaseous and Condensed-Phase Energetic Materials

1999-2000 Reactive Flow and Transport Phenomena