Modeling of solid-state combustion in thermally and chemically heterogeneous media

A thermally and chemically heterogeneous medium is modeled by a set of cylinders pressed from a mixture of solid reagents with coaxially aligned cylindrical rods made from an inert material. The change in velocity of combustion waves propagating over one cylinder is studied by numerical methods under the assumption that there is no heat release from the cylinder surface. The mean velocity of the combustion front in the specimen is shown first to decrease and then to increase with increasing thermal conductivity of the inert rod. Spinning waves are obtained in the range of low velocities of the combustion front. The laws of variations of the maximum temperature in the combustion front are determined. It is shown that the inert rod may serve as a heat sink from the hot charge mixture, may be manifested as dilution by an inert component, enhance heat recuperation, and increase the combustion-wave velocity. Introduction of the inert rod may either destabilize combustion-wave propagation in the region of a stable plane front or stabilize the combustion wave in the range of parameters where the plane front is unstable.