Calculation of Reaction Profiles behind Steady-State Shock Waves. I. Application to Detonation Waves

A numerical procedure for the integration of an arbitrary system of kinetic equations subject to the constraints imposed by steady state shock hydrodynamics is described. The detonation profile has been calculated for a 2H2+O2+Xe mixture at an initial pressure of 30 mm Hg. These conditions correspond to those used by Kistiakowsky and Kydd in a measurement of the wave profile. The calculated profile is in qualitative agreement with the measured one. The calculation provides empirical evidence that a frozen sound speed definition of the Chapman-Jouguet state cannot correspond to reality.