A NUMERICAL STUDY OF A 2-DIMENSIONAL H-2-O-2-AR DETONATION USING A DETAILED CHEMICAL-REACTION MODEL

Two-dimensional computations of the propagation of a detonation in a l ow-pressure, argon-diluted mixture of hydrogen and oxygen were perform ed using a detailed chemical reaction mechanism. Cellular structure de veloped after an initial perturbation was applied to a one-dimensional solution placed on a two-dimensional grid. The energy-release pattern in a detonation cell showed that, in addition to the primary release of energy behind the Mach stem, there is a secondary energy release th at starts about two-thirds of the way through the cell. Reignition, wh ich occurs as transverse waves collide, results in an explosion that s preads over a region and releases a considerable amount of energy. Res olution tests showed convergence of the detonation mode (number of tri ple points or transverse waves) reached at the end of the computations , as well as global and local energy release. The computations were pe rformed on massively parallel Connection Machines for which new approa ches were developed to maximize the speed and efficiency of integratio ns. (C) 1998 by The Combustion Institute.