Investigation Of Flame Regimes For Flame Acceleration To Detonation

Expanding hydrogen-air flames are studied in a semi-confined duct with an optical access test section. The focus of the work is to characterize the regimes of flame development in a highly turbulent environment and observe the Deflagration-to-Detonation (DDT) phenomenon. DDT has been observed and thoroughly identified in obstructed channels, but further investigation to identify the key mechanism of transition for propagating flames in turbulent flowfields will reveal details of turbulence driven DDT that has only been supported by computational simulations. Schlieren captures the global details of the propagation of expanding flames which consists of turbulent flame augmentation, generation of compression waves, shock formation and flame interaction with turbulent flow field. Understanding the flame acceleration regimes in a highly turbulent environment will aid in the control and prediction of detonation onset for the development of detonation-based propulsion engines