Detonation waves are attracting increasing interest for propulsion and high-efficiency power generation, particularly for rotating detonation engines. However, predicting them remains difficult because of their highly unsteady, multidimensional nature and their sensitivity to wall effects. Until recently, a large portion of the experimental data available for simulation validation remained strongly influenced by wall effects and boundary conditions, which limited their use for isolating the intrinsic mechanisms of detonation propagation.

This presentation will summarize our recent experimental and numerical advances aimed at improving the prediction of detonation waves. It will focus on three aspects: the development of quantitative laser diagnostics applied to H2 detonations, the use of detailed
comparisons between experiments and 2D/3D simulations to strengthen the predictive capability of numerical models for H2 detonations, and preliminary work on new fuels of interest for rotating detonation engines.