A simplified analysis on a pulse detonation engine model

Abstract

The performance of pulse detonation engines was analytically estimated by using a simple model. A pulse detonation engine was modeled as a straight tube. One end of the tube was closed and the other was open, and a detonation wave was ignited at the closed end. One cycle of the pulse-detonation-engine operation was divided into three phases: combustion, exhaust, and filling phases. The combustion and exhaust phases were theoretically analyzed with some simplifications, using the Hugoniot relation for the Chapman-Jouguet detonation wave and flow relations for self-similar rarefaction waves. Based on the simplified theoretical analysis, useful formulas for impulse density per one-cycle operation and time-averaged thrust density were derived.