Influence of Wall Shape on Steady Two-Dimensional Detonation Propagation

A characteristic path analysis is carried out for two-dimensional steady state flow using an idealized condensed-phase high explosive model for both 2D planar and axisymmetric cylindrical geometries and for both strong and weak confinement scenarios. The calculations use a specialized configuration where a solid wall is deflected to a given angle upon detonation front arrival. The characteristic paths are calculated in the hyperbolic supersonic region of the resulting flow, downstream of the sonic locus, and reveal that characteristics emanating from a supersonic section of the confining wall, for both strong and weak confinement, impinge on the sonic locus which together with the shock front bounds the detonation driving zone (the elliptic flow region which ultimately sets the velocity and front shape of the propagating detonation wave). Additionally, the imposed wall shape in this supersonic region of influence is varied to determine the ultimate effect of this flow feature on the propagation properties of the detonation wave.