The detonation structure, pressure gain, and thrust production in a rotating detonation engine (RDE) are studied using a combination of experimental and numerical approaches. High frequency time-dependent and low frequency time-averaged static pressure and thrust measurements are acquired for a range of operating conditions and geometry configurations. Acoustic coupling between the detonation channel and air plenum is important for low air mass flow rates and large air injection slots based on analyses of the pressure measurements in the time and frequency domains. The static pressure increases across the air inlet by up to approximately 15% when utilizing a large air injection slot. The pressure increase across the air inlet demonstrates encouraging progress towards realizing pressure gain combustion in RDEs with corresponding challenges associated with isolating the inlet plenums. The time-dependent pressure measurements acquired using a semi-infinite tube arrangement and time-averaged pressure measurements acquired using a capillary tube attenuated arrangement agree to within 30% depending upon location. Quantification of the similarities and differences between the two techniques represents important progress towards acquiring quantitative time-dependent pressure measurements in the challenging environment presented by RDEs. Two-dimensional simulations of the RDE capture the essential features of the flow field such as the detonation wave height and angle, trailing edge oblique shock wave, shear layer between the freshly and previously detonated products, and deflagration between the fuel fill region and expansion region containing detonated products. The presence of air purging from the plenum to the channel behind the detonation wave is suggested by the comparison of measured and simulated channel pressure distributions. The pressure, thrust, and wave speed measurements provide benchmark data that are useful for evaluating low and high fidelity simulations of RDEs and improving fundamental understanding of the critical design parameters that influence RDE operation and performance.
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