Experimental Study of the Preheat Zone Formation and Deflagration to Detonation Transition

The authors present experimental studies of the deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) in tubes with smooth and rough walls in stoichiometric hydrogen-oxygen and ethylene-oxygen mixtures. On the basis of experimental evidence, it is shown that formation of the preheat zone, where reaction is chemically frozen, promotes the transition to detonation if temperature and width of the preheat zone are above certain critical values. A sequence of high-speed Schlieren records permits an accurate determination of the minimal values of temperature and width of the preheat zone, leading to transition to detonation. The experimentally measured critical temperatures and widths of the preheat zone initiating restructuring of the flame and transition to detonation in hydrogen-oxygen and ethylene-oxygen mixtures are consistent with the developed theory.