It is of great interest for the engineering community to understand effective mechanisms to inhibit transition from deflagration to detonation (DDT). Recent experimental studies indicate that suppression of DDT is possible by incorporating a vacuum chamber adjacent to the propagation tunnel. In the present study computational fluid dynamic simulations are used to evaluate the influence of such a low pressure chamber on the propagation of deflagration and detonation waves. This study focuses on understanding the mechanisms by which such suppression is possible. It is demonstrated via numerical experiments that the success depends strongly on the location of the chamber w.r.t propagation of detonation pressure waves. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.