Compressible turbulent flame speeds of highly turbulent standing flames

In this paper we present the first measurement of turbulent burning velocities of a highly turbulent compressible standing flame induced by shock-driven turbulence in a Turbulent Shock Tube. High-speed schlieren, chemiluminescence, PIV, and dynamic pressure measurements are made to quantify flame–turbulence interaction for high levels of turbulence at elevated temperatures and pressure. Distributions of turbulent velocities, vorticity and turbulent strain are provided for regions ahead and behind the standing flame. The turbulent flame speed is directly measured for the high-Mach standing turbulent flame. From measurements of the flame turbulent speed and turbulent Mach number, transition into a non-linear compressibility regime at turbulent Mach numbers above 0.4 is confirmed, and a possible mechanism for flame generated turbulence and deflagration-to-detonation transition is established.     

Three-dimensional reactive shock bifurcations

We model interactions of a premixed flame with incident and reflected shocks in a rectangular shock tube using three-dimensional (3D) reactive Navier–Stokes numerical simulations. Shock-flame interactions occur in the presence of boundary layers that cause the reflected shock to bifurcate and form a reactive shock bifurcation (RSB), which contains a flame in the recirculation zone behind the oblique shock. The recirculation zone acts as a flame holder thus attaching the flame to the shock in the vicinity of the wall, and providing a mechanism for a detonationless supersonic flame spread. The accelerated burning induced by an RSB, and Mach stems that may result from RSB–RSB interactions, promote hot-spot formation, and eventually accelerate deflagration-to-detonation transition. Schlieren-type images generated from the simulation results show that the 3D structure of an RSB may not always be easily recognized in experiments if the RSB is attached to the surface of the observation window. The main 3D effect observed in the simulations is caused by the presence of the second no-slip wall in a 3D rectangular channel. Two RSBs that form at adjacent walls interact with each other and produce an oblique Mach stem between two oblique shocks. The oblique Mach stems then interacts with a central Mach stem that forms near symmetry plane, and this interaction creates a hot-spot that leads to a detonation initiation.     

Fast deflagration-to-detonation transition

Studies of fast deflagration-to-detonation transition in gas and drop air-fuel explosive mixtures are reviewed. Fast deflagration-to-detonation transition is understood as the appearance of detonation at which a turbulent flame is sped up to a much lower velocity than that required for the classic deflagration-to-detonation transition in a straight tube with smooth or rough walls. The main goal of studies was to determine conditions under which fast deflagration-to-detonation transition was possible in weakly sensitive explosive mixtures at very low ignition energies. Examples of fast deflagration-to-detonation transitions checked experimentally and by multidimensional numerical calculations are given, including deflagration-to-detonation transitions (1) in a tube segment with regular obstacles of a special shape, (2) in tube coils, and (3) in tubes with U-shaped bends. In all cases, fast deflagration-to-detonation transition occurs because of the formation of distributed ignition zones in reflections of a running shock wave formed by an accelerated flame. The use of various combinations of reflecting elements can induce fast deflagration-to-detonation transition in an air mixture of aviation kerosene at ignition energies at a level of 5 J.     

Detonation initiation from shock and material interface interactions in hydrogen-air mixtures

A numerical study was conducted to explore the mechanisms of detonation initiation in a stoichiometric hydrogen-air mixture resulting from the interaction between a Mach 2.8 shock and a perturbed material interface. The simulations used a high-order compressible numerical method for fluid dynamics with both detailed and simplified chemical-diffusive models. Three material interfaces were considered: no interface, a perturbed planar flame, and a perturbed helium interface. The case with no interface did not evolve into a detonation. The case with the flame produced a series of additional shock-flame and shock-shock interactions. The shock-shock interactions produced a series of contact surfaces and sliplines with increasing temperature. Hot spots eventually formed along these sliplines and a detonation was initiated shortly thereafter through a reactivity gradient mechanism. The overall process of detonation initiation was similar for both detailed and simplified chemical-diffusive models. Only the fine details, such as the precise time and location of the hot spots, were different. This indicates that simplified chemical-diffusive models are adequate to describe the initiation of detonations in the present configuration. The processes that ignited the detonation were also similar in the case where the flame was replaced with a helium interface. Helium has a similar acoustic impedance to the products and produced similar wave refraction patterns. Thus, the primary effect of the flame is to facilitate the shock-shock interactions that produce hot spots and initiate the detonation. The chemical energy released by the flame has a secondary influence.     

Flame acceleration and transition to detonation: Effects of a composition gradient in a mixture of methane and air

The effects of a composition gradient on flame acceleration and transition to detonation in a mixture of methane and air were studied by numerically solving the unsteady, fully compressible, reactive Navier–Stokes equations. The specific problem addressed here is for ignition in a two-dimensional, obstructed channel where there is a spatial gradient of equivalence ratios perpendicular to the propagation direction of the reaction wave. The solution method uses a calibrated, optimized chemical-diffusive model that reproduces correct flame and detonation properties for methane–air mixtures over a range of equivalence ratios. Comparisons were made to a stoichiometric, homogeneous mixture in order to focus on the worst-case scenario for safety concerns. The results showed that the flame speed is smaller and the average total heat release are lower, but the maximum flame surface area is larger in the inhomogeneous mixture. This is because there is more unburned material between obstacles but less energy released from this increased flame surface area in the fuel-lean region, leading to the reduction of the total heat release. The transition to detonation is delayed in the inhomogeneous mixture, because the hot spot forms in the fuel-lean region and the strength of the Mach stem that hits the obstacle is weaker. The detonation front tends to decouple into a shock and a flame earlier in the inhomogeneous mixture, due to the incomplete mixing throughout the entire domain during the detonation propagation process.     

半开口管道中的氢/空气火焰加速和压力发展过程

本文研究了氢／空气预混火焰在半开口管道中的火焰加速现象和压力发展过程．结果表明,重复布置的障碍物对火焰速度和压力提升产生显著的影响．火焰传播状态随着氢气当量比的变化而发生改变,在氢气当量比约为０．３４时,火焰速度出现第一次跃变;随着氢气当量比进一步提高,火焰速度发生第二次跃变,即由爆燃转为爆轰．发生爆轰时氢气当量比的范围随着阻塞比的不同而发生变化．     

DNS analysis of boundary layer flashback in turbulent flow with wall-normal pressure gradient

The presence of swirl in combustion systems produces a marked change in their boundary layer flashback behaviour. Two aspects of swirling flow are investigated in this study: the effect of the swirl-generated wall-normal pressure gradient, and the effect of misalignment between the mean flow direction and the direction of flame propagation. The analysis employs Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of fuel-lean premixed hydrogen-air flames in turbulent planar channel flow with friction Reynolds number of 180. The effect of swirl on the flashback process is investigated by imposing a wall-normal pressure gradient profile. Analysis of the DNS data shows how the resulting differences in flow field and flame topology contribute to the differences in the overall flashback speed. Misalignment of the flow and propagation directions leads to asymmetry in the flame shape statistics as streaks of high velocity fluid in the boundary layer cleave into the flame front at an angle, yielding an increase in flame surface density away from the wall. Swirl has a stabilising effect on the turbulent flame front during flashback along the centre-body of a swirling annular flow due to the density stratification across the flame front, and produces a reduction in turbulent consumption speed. However the swirl also sets up a hydrostatic pressure difference that drives the flame forward, and the net effect is that the flashback speed is increased. The dominance of hydrostatic effects motivates development of relatively simple modelling for the effect of swirl on flashback speed. A model accounting for the inviscid momentum balance and for confinement effects is presented which adequately describes the effect of swirl on flashback speed observed in previous experimental studies.     

The effects of flame generated turbulence for turbulent-induced deflagration to detonation transition

The turbulent deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) process occurs when a subsonic flame interacts with intense turbulence resulting in spontaneous acceleration and the onset of DDT. The mechanisms that govern the spontaneous ignition are deduced intricately in numerical simulations. This work experimentally explores the conditions that are known precursors to detonation initiation. More specifically, the experiment presented investigates the role of flame-generated compression as a cycle that continuously amplifies until a hotspot forms on the flame front and ignites. The study quantifies the compression comparatively against other flame regimes through ultra-high speed pressure measurements while qualitatively detailing flame generated compression through density gradients via schlieren imaging. Additionally, flow field measurements are quantified throughout the flow using simultaneous particle image velocimetry (PIV) and OH* chemiluminescence. The turbulence fluctuations and flame speeds are extracted from these measurements to identify the reactant conditions where flame-generated compression begins. Collectively, these simultaneous high-speed measurements provide detailed insight into the flame and flow field characteristics where the runaway process occurs. This work ultimately documents direct flow field measurements to extract the contribution of flame-generated turbulence on the turbulent deflagration to detonation transition process.     

Influence of turbulent flow on the deflagration-to-detonation transition in hydrogen-oxygen-air mixtures in a pulse combustor

The effect of turbulization of a hydrogen-oxygen-air mixture flow on the deflagration-to-detonation transition in a pulse combustor (PC) is studied. The parameters of operation of the PC with flame front propagation in a quiescent and strongly turbulized mixtures (Re ? 10⁴) are compared. It is shown that, in case of a quiescent mixture no detonation occurs because of a small length of the PC. The presence of intense pulsations (Re > 2 · 10⁴) created by elements of special configuration in the mixing chamber promotes the formation of a detonation wave, the velocity of which depends on the fuel-to-oxidizer equivalence ratio.     

Role of large scale flow features on cycle-to-cycle variations of spark-ignited flame-initiation and its transition to turbulent combustion

This study investigates the influence of large-scale flow features, including flow structure and velocity magnitude, on the early-burn period variability in a homogenous-charge spark-ignited engine fueled with premixed propane-air mixture. Particle image velocimetry and in-cylinder pressure measurement data from a previous study - were processed to enable simultaneous flow characterization and flame-front tracking as well as apparent heat-release analysis. By combining probability analysis of flame development with conditional sampling of fast and slow early-burn cycles using 10% fuel mass fraction burned, it is shown that an undesirable flow structure produces an asymmetric flame development at the initial flame growth period. This asymmetric flame structure persists through the whole initial-to-turbulent transition period until the flame becomes fully turbulent. The undesirable flow condition is characterized by large-scale convective flows near spark plug rather than flows that lead to increased flame spread in multiple directions. The simultaneous flow and flame characterization enables the quantifications of flame-front propagation speed, unburned fuel-air mixture velocity ahead of flame front and local burning velocity at flame surface. Here the local burning velocity is referred to as laminar or turbulent flame speed. A simplified approach is introduced to derive integrated values for these quantities per crank-angle-degree, enabling the quantitative comparison of the trend-wise difference in these integrated metrics between fast and slow early-burn cycles. It is revealed that for the transition period, the CCV in the velocity magnitude of unburned fuel-air mixture ahead of the flame front accounts for nearly 50% to the variability of flame propagation speed. The burning velocity provides the remaining source of the flame propagation variability in this period. The flame propagation variations in the initial flame growth and fully turbulent periods are smaller than those in the transition period and are primarily dependent on the variability of large-scale flow features.     

Accelerative expansion and DDT of stoichiometric ethylene/oxygen flame rings in micro-gaps

Acceleration and transition to detonation of expanding flame rings ignited at the center of 260 μm and 120 μm gaps between parallel flat pates were experimentally studied. The micro-spacing was initially filled with stoichiometric ethylene/oxygen mixtures at ambient pressure and temperature. Visualizations showed that the outward propagating reaction wave was initially smooth and circular, but petal-like wrinkles quickly developed on the flame ring. Flame wrinkles appeared earlier and closer to the ignition point as the gap width became smaller. The flame underwent fast acceleration during the onset of flame wrinkling, but the acceleration was relatively mild as the wrinkled flame ring continued to expand. Time exponents for the accelerative growth of corrugated flame rings were identical in the two highly confined gaps. The flame ring underwent deflagration-to-detonation transition as the propagation velocities abruptly surged from 1000 m/s to over 2000 m/s. The arc-shaped detonation waves initiated from local explosion spots on the flame ring were propagating at near Chapman–Jouguet velocities. The induction distance and time for detonation transition were both shorter in the smaller gap. Detonation cell patterns and the initiation locations were also clearly recorded through soot film visualizations.     

A numerical modeling of the acceleration of a flame by an additional energy input ahead of its front

The acceleration of a flame after an additional energy input ahead of its front was simulated using numerical methods. The combustion of a hydrogen-air mixture in a semiopen channel was considered. The calculations were performed within the framework of a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model of premixed flames, with consideration given to heat transfer, multicomponent diffusion, and chemical kinetics. It was demonstrated that, when the interaction of the flame front with the near-wall boundary layer is taken into account, even a moderate energy input could substantially promote the development of the Landau-Darrieus instability and, possibly, deflagration to detonation transition.     

Detonation simulations in supersonic flow under circumstances of injection and mixing

The unsteady, reactive Navier-Stokes equations with a detailed chemical mechanism of 11 species and 27 steps were employed to simulate the mixing, flame acceleration and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) triggered by transverse jet obstacles. Results show that multiple transverse jet obstacles ejecting into the chamber can be used to activate DDT. But the occurrence of DDT is tremendously difficult in a non-uniform supersonic mixture so that it required several groups of transverse jets with increasing stagnation pressure. The jets introduce flow turbulence and produce oblique and bow shock waves even in an inhomogeneous supersonic mixture. The DDT is enhanced by multiple explosion points that are generated by the intense shock wave focusing of the leading flame front. It is found that the partial detonation front decouples into shock and flame, which is mainly caused by the fuel deficiency, nevertheless the decoupled shock wave is strong enough to reignite the mixture to detonation conditions. The resulting transverse wave leads to further mixing and burning of the downstream non-equilibrium chemical reaction, resulting in a high combustion temperature and intense flow instabilities. Additionally, the longitudinal and transverse gradients of the non-uniform supersonic mixture induce highly dynamic behaviors with sudden propagation speed increase and detonation front instabilities.     

Spontaneous transition of turbulent flames to detonations in unconfined media

A deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) can occur in environments ranging from experimental and industrial systems to astrophysical thermonuclear (type Ia) supernovae explosions. Substantial progress has been made in explaining the nature of DDT in confined systems with walls, internal obstacles, or preexisting shocks. It remains unclear, however, whether DDT can occur in unconfined media. Here we use direct numerical simulations (DNS) to show that for high enough turbulent intensities unconfined, subsonic, premixed, turbulent flames are inherently unstable to DDT. The associated mechanism, based on the nonsteady evolution of flames faster than the Chapman-Jouguet deflagrations, is qualitatively different from the traditionally suggested spontaneous reaction-wave model. Critical turbulent flame speeds, predicted by this mechanism for the onset of DDT, are in agreement with DNS results.     

Thrust characteristics of an airbreathing pulse detonation engine in supersonic flight at various altitudes

The main thrust characteristics, such as thrust force, specific impulse, specific fuel consumption, and specific thrust, of a pulse detonation engine (PDE) with an air intake and nozzle in conditions of flight at a Mach number of 3 and various altitudes (from 8 to 28 km above sea level) are for the first time calculated with consideration given to the physicochemical characteristics of the oxidation and combustion of hydro-carbon fuel (propane), finite time of turbulent flame acceleration, and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT). In addition, a parametric analysis of the influence of the operation mode and design parameters of the PDE on its thrust characteristics in flight at a Mach number of 3 and an altitude of 16 km is performed, and the characteristics of engines with direct initiation of detonation and fast deflagration are compared. It is shown that a PDE of this design greatly exceeds an ideal ramjet engine in specific thrust, whereas regarding the specific impulse and specific fuel consumption, it is not inferior to the ideal ramjet.     

Minimum ignition energy and propagation dynamics of laminar premixed cool flames

Laminar premixed cool flames, induced by the coupling of low-temperature chemistry and convective-diffusive transport process, have recently attracted extensive interest in combustion and engine research. In this work, numerical simulations have been conducted using a recently developed open-source reacting flow platform reactingFOAM-SCT, to investigate the minimum ignition energy (MIE) and propagation dynamics of premixed cool flames in a 1D spherical coordinate. Results have shown that when ignition energy is below the MIE of regular hot flames, a class of cool flames could be initiated, which allow much wider flammability limits, both lean and rich, compared to hot flames. Furthermore, the overall cool flame propagation dynamics exhibit intrinsic similarity to those of hot flames, in that, they begin with an ignition kernel propagation regime, followed by two transition regimes, and eventually reach a normal flame propagation regime. However, a spherical expanding cool flame responds completely differently to stretch. Specifically, a regular outwardly propagating hot spherical flame accelerates with increasing stretch rate when the mixture Le < 1 and decelerates when Le > 1. However, it is found that a cool flame always tends to decelerate with increasing stretch rate regardless of mixture composition, exhibiting unique flame aerodynamic characteristic. This research discovers novel features of premixed cool flame initiation and propagation dynamics and sheds light on flame transition, spark-ignition system design, and advanced engine combustion control.     

以HMX为基的两种压装高密度炸药的燃烧转爆轰实验研究

 为研究以HMX为基的固体高能炸药的燃烧转爆轰性能,采用同轴电探针和压力传感器测试技术对常用的A、B两种压装高密度高能炸药开展燃烧转爆轰实验,研究装药组分和约束条件对压装高密度炸药燃烧转爆轰性能的影响。实验结果表明：这两种压装高密度炸药难以发生燃烧转爆轰;在强约束条件下（45号钢,内径25.4 mm、外径65 mm、长度600 mm）,A压装炸药（HMX质量分数为95%,密度为1.86 g/cm³）基本实现了燃烧转爆轰,爆轰诱导距离约为545 mm;在相同的实验条件下,A压装炸药比B压装炸药（HMX质量分数为87%,密度为1.84 g/cm³）更易于发生燃烧转爆轰,即A压装炸药的安定性相对较差。     

Enhanced DDT mechanism from shock-flame interactions in thin channels

We show experimentally and numerically that when a weak shock interacts with a finger flame in a narrow channel, an extremely efficient mechanism for deflagration to detonation transition occurs. This is demonstrated in a 19-mm-thick channel in hydrogen-air mixtures at pressures below 0.2 atm and weak shocks of Mach numbers 1.5 to 2. The mechanism relies primarily on the straining of the flame shape into an elongated alligator flame maintained by the anchoring mechanism of Gamezo in a bifurcated lambda shock due to boundary layers. The mechanism can increase the flame surface area by more than two orders of magnitude without any turbulence on the flame time scale. The resulting alligator-shaped flame is shown to saturate near the Chapman–Jouguet condition and further slowly accelerate until its burning velocity reaches the sound speed in the shocked unburned gas. At this state, the lead shock and further adiabatic compression of the gas in the induction zone gives rise to auto-ignition and very rapid transition to detonation through merging of numerous spontaneous flames from ignition spots. The entire acceleration can occur on a time scale comparable to the laminar flame time.     

基于Ludwieg管的高超声速边界层转捩实验

高超声速边界层层/湍流转捩是高超声速飞行器气动力和气动热设计中的难点和热点问题.为了降低开展高超声速边界层不稳定性与转捩实验研究的门槛,研究基于Ludwieg管原理设计并建造了一座Mach 6高超声速管风洞,重点对Ludwieg管风洞的启动和运行过程开展了数值模拟,分析了储气段弯管布局对试验段流场的影响;之后,对该高超声速风洞的自由来流品质进行了静态和动态的标定,验证了风洞的设计Mach数,并给出了流场的动态扰动特征;最后,基于7°半张角尖锥标模开展了高超声速边界层转捩实验,通过表面齐平式安装的高频PCB传感器获得边界层不稳定波,分析了高超声速边界层不稳定波的演化特征.以上工作表明,Ludwieg管相对常规高超声速风洞具有建设和运行成本低、运行效率高、流场品质好等优点,适合开展高超声速边界层转捩等基础实验研究.      

Reaction propagation modes in millimeter-scale tubes for ethylene/oxygen mixtures

Effects of tube diameter and equivalence ratio on reaction front propagations of ethylene/oxygen mixtures in capillary tubes were experimentally analyzed using high speed cinematography. The inner diameters of the tubes investigated were 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 mm. The flame was ignited at the center of the 1.5 m long smooth tube under ambient pressure and temperature before propagated towards the exits in the opposite directions. A total of five reaction propagation scenarios, including deflagration-to-detonation transition followed by steady detonation wave transmission (DDT/C–J detonation), oscillating flame, steady deflagration, galloping detonation and quenching flame, were identified. DDT/C–J detonation mode was observed for all tubes for equivalence ratios in the vicinity of stoichiometry. The velocity for the steady detonation wave propagation was approximately Chapman–Jouguet velocity for 1, 2, and 3 mm I.D. tubes; however, a velocity deficit of 5% was found for the case in 0.5 mm I.D. tube. For leaner mixtures, an oscillating flame mode was found for tubes with diameters of 1 to 3 mm, and the reaction front travelled in a steady deflagrative flame mode with velocities around 2–3 m/s when the mixture equivalence ratio becomes even leaner. Galloping detonation wave propagation was the dominant mode for the fuel lean regime in the 0.5 mm I.D. tube. For rich mixtures beyond the detonation limits, a fast flame followed by flame quenching was observed.