Study of cylindrical imploding detonations

• Main Author: Huni, Jean Paul R.
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2011
• Subjects: Explosions
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/34692

The theory of imploding detonations predicts a focusing effect by which the temperature, the pressure and the front velocity are drastically increased as the front reaches the center of implosion. We have verified this effect in cylindrical imploding detonations by measuring the front velocity, the pressure and the temperature. The velocity measurements, which are the first of their kind, and the pressure measurements, which agree with the previous results obtained by Lee et al /l/, both confirm the theory quantitatively. The temperature measurements, on the other hand, are inconclusive due to the fact that thermal equilibrium is not attained in the vibrational levels of the molecules of the reaction products. Two useful applications of the detonation properties are presented: 1) A method of generating plane hypersonic shock waves with a cylindrical imploding detonation was developed and 2) plane detonations were used to calibrate piezoelectric pressure probes in a high pressure range. === Science, Faculty of === Physics and Astronomy, Department of === Graduate