A pulse-detonation thruster can generate a high-repeatability small impulse at a high operating frequency. To operate a pulse-detonation cycle in a vacuum environment without a purging material, a liquid-purge method proposed by Matsuoka et al. (“Development of a Liquid-Purge Method for High-Frequency Operation of Pulse Detonation Combustor,” Combustion Science and Technology, Vol. 187, No. 5, 2015, pp. 747–764) and throat at the exit of the combustor were introduced. In the demonstration experiment, gaseous ethylene–liquid nitrous oxide, as detonable mixture, and a throat having an inner diameter of 3.6 mm (blockage $ratio = 87 %$ ) were used. The measured cyclic flame-propagation speeds were $2005 \pm 90 m / s$ and $92 \pm 4 %$ of the estimated Chapman–Jouguet detonation speed. Consequently, a 50 Hz pulse-detonation operation without a purging material in the ambient-pressure range of 0.035–1.5 kPa was confirmed. A quasi-steady model, in which gases in the combustor are in the stationary state, was newly developed to investigate the operating characteristic of the pulse-detonation thruster. The experimental pressure history in the combustor during the burned-gas blowdown process was in good agreement with that of the model. Moreover, using the model, the thrust performance of the pulse-detonation thruster with a converging–diverging nozzle was investigated. It was found that the estimated specific impulse was comparable with that of the theoretical steady-state rocket engine.

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Volume 34, Number 1January 2018

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This study was subsidized by the Research Grant Program from the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A), number 24246137, and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), number 26820371; Toukai Foundation for Technology; and Paloma Environmental Technology Development Foundation.

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Received20 July 2016
Accepted29 March 2017
Published online22 June 2017

Validation of Pulse-Detonation Operation in Low-Ambient-Pressure Environment

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