Propagation Characteristics of Aluminum/Propylene Oxide Multiphase Cloud Explosion With Different AlH ₃ Ratios and Initiation Energies

ABSTRACT Fuel‐air explosives (FAE) are an important source of explosion energy. The density advantage of aluminum hydride (AlH 3 ) dust is obvious compared with that of liquid components. However, the feasibility of adding AlH 3 to promote multiphase cloud detonation and increase energy is lack of exploration. In this paper, the explosion process of propylene oxide (PO)/Al/AlH 3 /air was investigated by numerical simulation. Peak pressure and temperature of PO/air explosion increase first and then decrease with increasing mass concentration under weak ignition, reaching the maximum at 150 g/m 3 , approximately 1.01 MPa and 2700 K, respectively. The peak overpressure of PO/Al/AlH 3 /air cloud detonation initially increases and then decreases with the increase of AlH 3 content, reaching a maximum overpressure of 5.16 MPa at 20% AlH 3 under weak ignition; at a high AlH 3 content (32%), the reaction process of multi‐phase cloud undergoes deflagration‐to‐detonation transition. The PO/Al/AlH 3 /air multiphase clouds under strong ignition detonation have reached a quasi‐detonation state, with a detonation velocity of about 1650 m/s; at an AlH 3 content of 24%, the peak detonation reflection pressure of multiphase cloud reaches a maximum of 2.986 MPa. In addition, the flow field and reaction mechanism of PO/Al/AlH 3 multiphase cloud explosion were analyzed. We expect to provide a reference for the development of new high‐energy fuels.