Propagation of combustion in mixtures of pulse-periodic chemical lasers based on the reaction of fluorine with hydrogen

An experimental investigation was made of the propagation of combustion in fluorine—hydrogen mixtures diluted with an inert gas (Ar or SF₆) under conditions of point (spark) or bulk (flashlamp) initiation of the chemical reaction. A change in the inert gas content, particularly that of SF₆, had a significant influence on the combustion propagation velocity. This velocity was calculated on the basis of a theoretical model of Ya B Zel'dovich. The experimental results indicated that the propagation velocity of combustion in fluorine—hydrogen mixtures was anomalously high.