Customer Reviews

Detonation: Theory and Experiment (Dover Books on Physics)

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This book presents an introductory overview, both theoretical and observational, of the hydrodynamics of detonation. A working knowledge of the physics of compressible/supersonic flows is assumed by the authors and is necessary before approaching the material in this book. As the back cover states, detonation is the form of combustion `in which energy transfer is by mass flow in strong compression waves'. The authors start by deriving simple equations for shocks and then extending to formalism to include the release of chemical energy and changes in adiabatic index behind the shock (the so-called Zeldovich - von Neumann - Doering model). Even in simple cases this can become a virtually intractable problem. The authors make every attempt to compare theory with experiments, and point out when (and sometimes why) they diverge. More advanced topics discussed at length in the book include non-steady solutions and micro-structure behind the shock. This is an advanced/specialized book geared toward taking an advanced student (physicist/chemist/engineer) who already has a working knowledge of compressible flows to doing research in detonation. There is a heavy emphasis on practical interpretation in this book, the authors don't get bogged down with too much analytic analysis that often obsfuscates basic ideas. There are also lots of good black and white pictures to illustrate important points.

This book is a good history lesson on the advancement of the study of explosions.
It represents the ad-hoc nature of the development of the theory and experimental analysis.
While reading the book, I got the feeling this was a way for the authors to publish much of their own and some of their favored colleagues unpublished work.
Some of the derivations are quite light and most equations are presented as a matter of fact, but I guess that was by design.