Oblique detonation wave triggered by a double wedge in hypersonic flow

Pressure-gain combustion has gained attention for airbreathing ramjet engine applications owing to its better thermodynamic efficiency and fuel consumption rate. In contrast with traditional detonation induced by a single wedge, the present study considers oblique shock interactions attached to double wedges in a hypersonic combustible flow. The temperature/pressure increases sharply across the interaction zone that initiates an exothermic reaction, finally resulting in an Oblique Detonation Wave (ODW). Compared with the case for a single-wedge ODW, the double-wedge geometry has great potential to control the initiation of the ODW. As a tentative study, two-dimensional compressible Euler equations with a two-step induction-reaction kinetic model are used to solve the detonation dynamics triggered by a double wedge. The effects of the wedge angles and wedge corner locations on the initiation structures are investigated numerically. The results show an ODW complex comprising three Oblique Shock Waves (OSWs), an induction zone, a curved detonation front, and an unburned/low-temperature gas belt close to the surface of the second wedge. Both the increasing wedge angle and downstream wedge corner location lead to an abrupt OSW–ODW transition type, whereas the former corresponds to the shock–shock interaction and the later has a greater effect on the exothermic chemical process. Analysis of the shock polar and flow scale confirms that the OSW–ODW initiation structure mainly depends on the coupling of shocks and heat release in a confined initiation zone.