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Measurement of effective blast energy for direct initiation of spherical gaseous detonations from high-voltage spark discharge

Title:

Measurement of effective blast energy for direct initiation of spherical gaseous detonations from high-voltage spark discharge

Zhang, B., Ng, H. D. and Lee, J. H. S. (2012) Measurement of effective blast energy for direct initiation of spherical gaseous detonations from high-voltage spark discharge. Shock Waves, 22 (1). pp. 1-7. ISSN 0938-1287

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00193-011-0342-y

Abstract

In this study, effective energy from spark discharge for direct blast initiation of spherical gaseous detonations is investigated. In the experiment, direct initiation of detonation is achieved via a spark discharge from a high-voltage and low-inductance capacitor bank and the spark energy is estimated from the analysis of the current output. To determine the blast wave energy from the powerful spark, the time-of-arrival of the blast wave in air is measured at different radii using a piezoelectric pressure transducer. Good agreement is found in the scaled blast trajectories, i.e., scaled time c o·t/R o where c o is the ambient sound speed, as a function of blast radius R s/R o between the numerical simulation of a spherical blast wave from a point energy source and the experimental results where the explosion length scale R o is computed using the equivalent spark energy from the first 1/4 current discharge cycle. Alternatively, by fitting the experimental trajectories data, the blast energy estimated from the numerical simulation appears also in good agreement with that obtained experimentally using the 1/4 cycle criterion. Using the 1/4 cycle of spark discharge for the effective energy, direct initiation experiments of spherical gaseous detonations are carried out to determine the critical initiation energy in C2H2–2.5O2 mixtures with 70 and 0% argon dilution. The experimental results obtained from the 1/4 cycle of spark discharge agree well with the prediction from two initiation models, namely, the Lee’s surface energy model and a simplified work done model. The main source of discrepancy in the comparison can be explained by the uncertainty of cell size measurement which is needed for both the semi-empirical models.

Divisions:Concordia University > Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science > Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Authors:Zhang, B. and Ng, H. D. and Lee, J. H. S.
Journal or Publication:Shock Waves
Date:2012
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):10.1007/s00193-011-0342-y
ID Code:973585
Deposited By: ANDREA MURRAY
Deposited On:09 Feb 2012 19:13
Last Modified:18 Jan 2018 17:36
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