Interactions between compressibility and heat release in turbulent mixing layers

Reduced turbulence activity and growth rate of a compressible mixing layer when the convective Mach number increases, are well-known phenomena. Heat release due to combustion has similar effects and important implications for applications such as scramjet engines the efficiency of which depends on a proper mixing of oxidizer and fuel. To understand the underlying mechanisms, highly resolved DNS of inert and reacting, temporally evolving mixing layers at different convective Mach numbers and Reynolds numbers ensuring a self-similar state are performed and analyzed with a particular focus on the pressure-strain correlations in the Reynolds-stress transport equations. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)