Effect of Le on criteria of transition to secondary acoustic instability of downward-propagating flame in a tube with controlled curvature induced by external laser

An experimental study is conducted to investigate the effect of Le on the transition to secondary acoustic instability when the curvature of the flame front in a tube is induced and controlled by using external laser irradiation. Once a downward-propagating flame in the primary acoustic instability region is exposed to a specific laser irradiation condition, the flame is transferred to the secondary acoustic instability region. The transition limit is decreased, that is, transition occurs is an easier manner, with increasing laser power input. While the flame propagates with increasing laser irradiation, the flame first exhibits a convex curvature owing to laser irradiation and then a concave structure is formed owing to buoyancy-induced flow. Two types of transition behavior caused by the concave structure and the convex structure are observed. The conflicting thermal-diffusive effect depending on Le leads to the differing transition behaviors. Based on an evaluation of the flame stretch effect attributed to the flame front curvature, it is confirmed that the Lewis number effect influences the transition criteria.