A study was performed to qualitatively investigate the ignition phenomena of rotating detonation engines using a high-speed camera. Visualizations were performed on two ignition methods, a tangential predetonator and a spark plug, at framing rates of up to 500,000 fps. Both ignition methods initiated a forward and a backward traveling detonation wave which merged on the opposite side of the annulus. The predetonator did so directly, whereas the spark plug ignition underwent a deflagration-to-detonation transition. The detonations appeared to cancel out upon intersection, leading to a pair of decaying pressure waves propagating in opposite directions around the annulus. The predetonator induced a rotational component to the subsequent flowfield but the spark plug did not. Pressure data was used to augment and confirm the visual observations.
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