Detonation transmission with an abrupt change in area

Detonation transmission between propane/oxygen (donor) and propane/air (acceptor) with an abrupt area change is experimentally studied. In the donor, there are two types of incident detonation waves: A self-sustained Chapman-Jouguet (CJ) detonation wave and an overdriven detonation wave that is a result of the difference in the initial donor pressure ratios. The piston work is used to characterize the strength of the incident detonation wave. For an incident CJ detonation wave, the re-initiation of a detonation wave in the acceptor depends on the initial pressure in the donor and the expansion ratio. The axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric soot patterns respectively correspond to direct detonation and detonation re-initiation. For an incident overdriven detonation wave, the re-initiation of a detonation wave in the acceptor strongly depends on the degree of overdrive.