Continuous Injector Geometry Variation to Augment Rotating Detonation Combustor Operation and Performance

Sensitivity of rotating detonation combustor operation and performance to oxidizer injector pressure drop was characterized using continuous variation of the injector area during combustor operation. As the oxidizer injector area was both increased and decreased, the sensitivity of the combustion process to varying injector pressure drop was characterized using high-frequency measurements of pressure and chemiluminescence intensity. Detonation wave strength and coherence were characterized using peak-to-peak intensity and power fraction calculated from point-chemiluminescence measurements. Propulsive performance of the combustor was evaluated using thrust and equivalent available pressure, relating them back to reactant supply pressures for assessment of combustor pressure gain. Pressure gain increased during a test as the oxidizer injector area was increased and the corresponding manifold pressure was decreased. At larger injector areas, pressure gain decreased as the operating mode of the combustor transitioned from detonation to deflagration, concomitant with a reduction of gross thrust. Modeling of injector recovery time revealed that the injector operated in both choked and unchoked regimes, which was used to explain detonation wave number transitions in the experiment. A broadened range of detonative operability enabled by active variation of combustor geometry resulted in higher performance with a lower injector pressure drop.