Dynamics of Transient Shock Waves in Detonation Engines

Replacing the combustion chamber of a gas turbine with a pulse-detonation combustor (PDC) is a means of drastically improving the efficiency of a gas turbine engine. The exhaust of a PDC contains fast-moving shock waves which are likely to damage other engine components and reduce the overall engine efficiency. The first part of the thesis focuses on the design and development of a facility for generating transient shock waves. The second part of the thesis presents three methods of attenuating the pressure fluctuations from the transient shock waves in order to maximise the efficiency of the engine.