Experimental Testing of a Single Airstream Centerbodiless Rotating Detonation Engine with a Hollow Core
Date of Award
5-5-2024
Degree Name
M.S. in Mechanical Engineering
Department
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Advisor/Chair
Matthew Fotia
Abstract
This work discusses the experimental testing of a nominal six-inch diameter single airstream rotating detonation engine that utilizes a hollow core to split the airstream into two separate flow paths and causes the test article to self-balance. Hydrogen and air were selected as the fuel/oxidizer combination for this test. The hollow core is designed to mimic a venturi nozzle, enabling the collection of pressure and temperature at the throat of nozzle to determine the mass flow rate through each flow path. Two Laval nozzles with varying contraction ratios, 7.5 and 11, and three fuel rings of varying injection are experimentally examined and their impact on the operability of the self-balancing RDE is investigated. This work highlights the calculation and determination of the mass flow split between the flow paths during cold flow and hot flow conditions, the operating map across six experimental configurations, and the impact of fuel injection penetration and momentum flux on the operability of the test article.
Keywords
Rotating Detonation Engine Continuous Rotating Detonation Engine Hollow Rotating Detonation Engine Centerbodiless Rotating Detonation Engine Fast Fourier Transform Compressible Fluid Flow
Rights Statement
Copyright 2024, author
Recommended Citation
Hencel, Regan, "Experimental Testing of a Single Airstream Centerbodiless Rotating Detonation Engine with a Hollow Core" (2024). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 7584.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/graduate_theses/7584
