On the Heat Flux Components in Supersonic Combustion of a Detonation Engine*

The five components of heat flux in a model of the rotating detonation engine were extensively investigated in this study using numerical simulations that are based on an explicit large-eddy simulation (LES) approach in the presence of multi-step chemical reactions. Some relevant data for thermal management of the engine are provided.

The maximum static pressure occurs at the transverse detonation wave, with a value that is one order of magnitude higher than the relatively uniform values that are found in most part of the domain. We were able to determine the axial distance at which most of the reactions have taken place, and we found that the formation convective heat flux has the largest contribution, followed very closely by its sensible counterpart, whose magnitude is roughly half of that for the formation enthalpy heat flux. The conductive heat flux has the smallest magnitude, which is roughly one order smaller than the mass diffusion values. The Nusselt number and heat transfer coefficient for the present problem are significantly higher than those encountered in low-speed, non-reacting flow fields.