Patent ID: 8707674

Claim:
A pulse detonation tube comprising: a continuous base tube having an interior surface, an exterior surface and a substantially uniform wall thickness; and a local flexural wave modifying feature configured on a downstream portion of the continuous base tube, the local flexural wave modifying feature comprising one of: at least one sinusoidal crest and at least one sinusoidal trough configured on an exterior surface of the continuous base tube to form an undulating exterior surface and a planar interior surface, such that a first local thickness at the at least one crest is greater than the uniform wall thickness and a second local thickness at the at least one trough is less than the uniform wall thickness, one or more couplings configured to couple an exterior surface of the continuous base tube to a tube support structure, wherein the one or more couplings comprise at least one of a roller coupling or a damped coupling comprising a spring and a dashpot, or a plurality of ridges disposed on an interior surface of the continuous base tube to form a ridged interior surface and a planar exterior surface, wherein the local flexural wave modifying feature is configured to locally vary a flexural wave speed such that the flexural wave speed through the pulse detonation tube is different than an expected detonation wave speed, to locally dissipate flexural wave energy, or a combination thereof.