State of Detonation Stability Theory and Its Application to Propulsion

Abstract

We present an overview of the current state of detonation stability theory and discuss its implications for propulsion. The emphasis of the review is on the exact or asymptotic treatments of detonations, including various asymptotic limits that appear in the literature. The role that instability plays in practical detonation-based propulsion is of primary importance and is largely unexplored, hence we point to possible areas of research both theoretical and numerical, that might help improve our understanding of detonation behavior in propulsion devices. We outline the basic formulation of detonation stability theory that starts from linearized Euler equations, describe the algorithm of solution, and present an example that illustrates typical results.