What is it about?
A full-scale three-dimensional Large Eddy Simulation (LES) study is conducted on a non-premixed H2-air annular rotating detonation combustor (RDC). A finite-rate chemistry reaction mechanism and a solver previously developed for high-speed reacting flow are used to carry out the LES. The number of waves, wave frequency and combustor pressure are compared against experimental data. The flow fields are also analysed for trends.
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Why is it important?
Due to high hardware costs and complexity of experiments, there has also been significant development in numerical analysis of RDE, which can complement the existing experimental studies. As with many engineering applications, numerical simulations do not only enable efficient parametric investigations to supplement the design process, but also provide further insights into some underlying physical principles of the phenomena which information might not be readily accessible in experiments. This factor is amplified even further in the high-speed combustion processes of rotating detonation with the mixed complications of compressible flow, shocks, combustion chemistry, heat transfer etc, leading to costly and difficult experiments which would yet often yield limited data.
Perspectives
Due to the sky-high computational costs to perform LES on RDCs, a relatively small number of studies have been done. However, it is crucial for the computational community to invest and progress towards the development of robust models that could take off when computing power has made the simulation costs affordable. Completing experimental investigations with numerical simulations, could provide the unparalleled avenue to investigate some of the key physical principles behind the detonation wave phenomena, and potentially help us finally understand and control them.
Yuxiang Lim
Lund University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Three-Dimensional Large-Eddy Simulation of Non-Premixed H2-Air Annular Rotating Detonation Combustor, January 2024, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
DOI: 10.2514/6.2024-2434.
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