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Accessing the Data

This document is available in three forms: as a LaTeX typeset postscript file, as a PDF (portable document format) file, and as HTML. The online version is accessible at the URL http://www.galcit.caltech.edu/detn_db/html/. The postscript version (1.83 MB) and pdf version (1.02 MB) can be downloaded from the WWW, through the HTML version. The printable and online formats contain the same information with somewhat different features. For instance, the printed document is more readable, but the WWW version offers a search engine.

The data are organized into three main sections that are linked together. The summary graphs represent a compilation of typical data organized in terms of type of fuel/oxidizer/diluent and category of data. Many inquiries may be satisfied by one of the plots. These plots are generated from, and refer to, the data tables. The numerical values in the data tables are available for reduction and inclusion in further graphs. Each data table is referenced to one of the sources listed in the References section, which stands alone as a useful bibliography of detonation literature.

Categories The data sets are organized into a number of categories, some with a set of sub-categories.

Units We are trying to put all the data in consistent units, at least for the sake of the summary graphs. The data tables (generally) contain the original units as presented in the literature along with our standard units.

Abbreviations Following are abbreviations for all the journals and serials mentioned in the References. Wherever possible, they are based on the recommendations of the Bibliographic Guide for Editors and Authors, published by the American Chemical Society (1974).

Pitfalls and Hints When searching the database for a particular item, there are several pitfalls to avoid and hints that can help you:

Appropriate data points may be found in unexpected places. Each data set represents a set of measurements as some variable (initial pressure, equivalence ratio, etc.) is varied, while other variables are held constant. Therefore, different data sets may overlap but not be presented together. Also, Air is considered an oxidizer, but will generally not be found during searches for O2 or N2.
When using the search engine, unwanted information may be found. Of course, this is preferable to not finding wanted information, but can be a hassle. For instance, searching for H2 will also find C2H2.
Temperature information are frequently lacking in experimental reports, even though it is very important as a modeling parameter. In cases where the temperature is not reported but is presumably "room temperature", 293 K is listed in the database.
Data in the literature are often reported along with error bars. Only nominal values are currently contained in this database. Error analysis information must be obtained from the original references.

Edited Last: May 27, 2002
jeshep@caltech.edu