Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Discussion
Topic · Aerospace Engineering

Combustion and Detonation Processes

Combustion and Detonation Processes is a research topic within Aerospace Engineering. Science Explorer counts 33k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the challenges, applications, and research developments in detonation propulsion technology, including pulse detonation engines, rotating detonation combustors, flame acceleration, detonation-to-deflagration transition, hydrogen safety, and dust explosions. It explores the fundamental combustion dynamics and explosion characteristics relevant to the advancement of detonative propulsion systems.

  • Detonation Propulsion
  • Pulse Detonation Engines
  • Rotating Detonation Combustors
  • Flame Acceleration
  • Detonation-to-Deflagration Transition
  • Hydrogen Safety
  • Dust Explosions
  • Flame Propagation
  • Explosion Characteristics
  • Combustion Dynamics
Research works
33k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+24%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
55% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Combustion and Detonation Processes

Which countries lead Combustion and Detonation Processes research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (3.2k and 874 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 3.2k works
  2. 2 United States 874 works
  3. 3 Russia 398 works
  4. 4 India 270 works
  5. 5 Germany 223 works
  6. 6 France 198 works
  7. 7 Japan 197 works
  8. 8 United Kingdom 171 works
  9. 9 South Korea 165 works
  10. 10 Italy 123 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 54.9%United States: 15.1%Russia: 6.9%India: 4.6%6 others listed: 18.6%55%largest
China3,187 · 54.9%United States874 · 15.1%Russia398 · 6.9%India270 · 4.6%6 others listed1,077 · 18.6%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Combustion and Detonation Processes research?

By volume in 2022-now, Russian Academy of Sciences publishes the most Combustion and Detonation Processes research, followed by Nanjing University of Science and Technology and Beijing Institute of Technology.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 189 works
  2. 2 Nanjing University of Science and TechnologyChina 163 works
  3. 3 Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 151 works
  4. 4 China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 100 works
  5. 5 University of Science and Technology of ChinaChina 87 works
  6. 6 Nanjing Tech UniversityChina 81 works
  7. 7 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 80 works
  8. 8 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 79 works
  9. 9 Dalian University of TechnologyChina 67 works
  10. 10 Tsinghua UniversityChina 65 works

Who are the leading researchers in Combustion and Detonation Processes?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Combustion and Detonation Processes include Wei Huang, Kenji Watanabe and Kai You Wang.

  1. 1 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  2. 2 Kenji Watanabe Japan 237k citations
  3. 3 Kai You Wang China 224k citations
  4. 4 Tim Driscoll Australia 204k citations
  5. 5 Hua Zhang Singapore 196k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Combustion and Detonation Processes?

The most cited paper in Combustion and Detonation Processes is "Simplified Reaction Mechanisms for the Oxidation of Hydrocarbon Fuels in Flames" (Charles K. Westbrook, Frederick L. Dryer, 1981), with 2,291 citations. Next come "Droplet vaporization model for spray combustion calculations" (1,676) and "Chemical kinetic modeling of hydrocarbon combustion" (1,568).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Simplified Reaction Mechanisms for the Oxidation of Hydrocarbon Fuels in Flames Charles K. Westbrook, Frederick L. Dryer · Combustion Science and Technology Dec 1981 2,291
2 Droplet vaporization model for spray combustion calculations B. Abramzon, William A. Sirignano · International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer Sep 1989 1,676
3 Chemical kinetic modeling of hydrocarbon combustion Charles K. Westbrook, Frederick L. Dryer · Progress in Energy and Combustion Science 1984 1,568
4 Development of fire‐retarded materials—Interpretation of cone calorimeter data Bernhard Schartel, Terence Richard Hull · Fire and Materials 21 May 2007 1,465
5 Hydrogen storage and delivery: Review of the state of the art technologies and risk and reliability analysis Ramin Moradi, Katrina M. Groth · International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 27 Mar 2019 1,380
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Combustion and Detonation Processes research done?

The largest centres of Combustion and Detonation Processes research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Nanjing (China), Xi'an (China) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Petroşani, Jiaozuo and Fuxin.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 661 works
  2. 2 NanjingChina 327 works
  3. 3 Xi'anChina 279 works
  4. 4 MoscowRussia 170 works
  5. 5 ShanghaiChina 147 works
  6. 6 DalianChina 127 works
  7. 7 HefeiChina 121 works
  8. 8 WuhanChina 121 works
  9. 9 XuzhouChina 101 works
  10. 10 ChongqingChina 91 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. PetroşaniRO · 24.6 works129×
  2. JiaozuoCN · 50.2 works23×
  3. FuxinCN · 22.7 works19×
  4. Los AlamosUS · 31.3 works18×
  5. OrlandoUS · 60.3 works17×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Combustion and Detonation Processes than the world average.

See Combustion and Detonation Processes on the map

Where is the best place to study Combustion and Detonation Processes?

Among universities, judged by research, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Xi'an University of Science and Technology and China University of Mining and Technology score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 23.88%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Xi'an University of …Shandong University …Dalian UniversityChina University of …
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Shandong University of Science and TechnologyChina 78.327.2%15.5×45 +47.5%
2Xi'an University of Science and TechnologyChina 77.429.9%42.8×58 +76.7%
3China University of Mining and TechnologyChina 74.522.2%21.3×100 +64.9%
4Dalian UniversityChina 70.424.0%30.3×42 +193.8%
5China University of Petroleum, East ChinaChina 70.029.8%10.0×28 +25.5%
6Dalian University of TechnologyChina 68.721.1%11.9×67 +124.3%
7Beijing Institute of TechnologyChina 66.613.7%21.4×150 +36.9%
8Chongqing UniversityChina 64.421.3%6.0×39 +102.4%
9Jiangsu UniversityChina 63.025.5%6.3×30 +114.1%
10Eindhoven University of TechnologyNetherlands 62.624.1%7.8×17 +197.6%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Combustion and Detonation Processes, country by country

Is Combustion and Detonation Processes research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 24% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Combustion and Detonation Processes.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Combustion and Detonation Processes as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.031% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%0.060%Combustion and Detonation Processes0.029% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Combustion and Detonation Processes over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Combustion and Detonation Processes9.7% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Discussion

Ask a question or share a note about Combustion and Detonation Processes. Posts are plain text and can be reported.