Numerical investigation of multi-tube pulse detonation engine

The parallel space-time conservation element and solution element (CE/SE) method was used to simulate the flow fields of dual-tube Pulse Detonation Engine (PDE) with convergent-divergent nozzle. The detailed flow structures were obtained under single-tube-ignition, dual-tube-ignition and different throat area conditions. The 8-species, 34 elementary reactions model for hydrogen-oxygen was used. It demonstrates that the flow fields generated by single-tube-ignition can ignite the gas of side detonation tubes; interactions of the internal flow fields of multi-tube PDE keep the pressure at a higher level; increasing throat area weakens the interaction of internal flow fields, and reduces the pressure on thrust wall simultaneously, thus decreasing the engine performance.