Comparison of 2D and 3D Supersonic Combustion Simulation Results in a Rotating Detonation Engine

This paper pertains to the comparative assessment of 2D and 3D aerothermodynamic models of the rotating detonation engine (RDE). Reacting large-eddy simulations are carried out for a simplified model. The results show that the axial-azimuthal static pressure distributions are virtually independent of the radial location, showing similar results for 2D and 3D. As in Ladeinde et al. [Ladeinde, F., Oh, H., and Somnic, J., "Supersonic Combustion Heat Flux in a Rotating Detonation Engine," Acta Astronautica, Vol. 203, pp. 226-245 (2022)], five types of heat flux are identified and investigated for the effects of 2D and 3D RDE modeling. The magnitudes of the five heat flux components are comparable in 2D and 3D models for the most part. Many of the variables, particularly the flow and thermodynamic variables, show similar axial-azimuthal distributions in the radial direction away from the vicinity of the annulus walls, for the different sample locations examined. The exception, which we see for the heat flux components, is the immediate downstream of the transverse detonation wave, where significant differences in 2D and 3D can be observed for some of the heat flux components at the mid-radius region of the annulus. This is the case for conductive heat flux, the formation and sensible components of the convective heat flux, and the sensible component of the heat flux due to species diffusion velocity.