COMPREHENSIVE MODEL OF A PULSE COMBUSTOR

The development of pulse combustor systems is still hampered by insuff icient understanding of the underlying principles. These can be addres sed to a large degree by combined experimental/analytical investigatio ns. This paper describes the development of a comprehensive model repr esenting the entire pulse combustor system, including the combustor, t ailpipe, decoupler, air and fuel lines and air and fuel flapper valves . The model is being used in conjunction with the experimental program at Georgia Tech, simulating one of the operating pulse combustors. Pr edictions are shown of pressures, temperatures, mass flows, heat fluxe s and flow velocities in the system. This includes a baseline configur ation as well as two parametric studies.