Combustion waves in hydraulically resisted systems

The effects of hydraulic resistance on the burning of confined/obstacle-laden gaseous and gas-permeable solid explosives are discussed on the basis of recent research. Hydraulic resistance is found to induce a new powerful mechanism for the reaction spread (diffusion of pressure) allowing for both fast subsonic as well as supersonic propagation. Hydraulic resistance appears to be of relevance also for the multiplicity of detonation regimes as well as for the transitions from slow conductive to fast convective, choked or detonative burning. A quasi-one-dimensional Fanno-type model for premixed gas combustion in an obstructed channel open at the ignition end is discussed. It is shown that, similar to the closed-end case studied earlier, the hydraulic resistance causes a gradual precompression and preheating of the unburned gas adjacent to the advancing deflagration, which leads (after an extended induction period) to a localized autoignition that triggers an abrupt transition from deflagrative to detonative combustion. In line with the experimental observations, the ignition at the open end greatly encumbers the transition (compared with the closed-end case), and the deflagration practically does not accelerate up to the very transition point. Shchelkin's effect, that ignition at a small distance from the closed end of a tube facilitates the transition, is described.