Numerical Simulation of Formation of Cellular Heterogeneous Detonation of Aluminum Particles in Oxygen

Formation of cellular detonation in a stoichiometric mixture of aluminum particles in oxygen is studied by means of numerical simulation of shock-wave initiation of detonation in a flat and rather wide channel. By varying the channel width, the characteristic size of the cells of regular uniform structures for particle fractions of 1–10 µm is determined. The calculated cell size is in agreement with the estimates obtained by methods of an acoustic analysis. A relation is established between the cell size and the length of the characteristic zones of the detonation-wave structure (ignition delay, combustion, velocity and thermal relaxation).