Pointwise Green function bounds and stability of combustion waves

Generalizing similar results for viscous shock and relaxation waves, we establish sharp pointwise Green function bounds and linearized and nonlinear stability for traveling wave solutions of an abstract viscous combustion model including both Majda's model and the full reacting compressible Navier--Stokes equations with artificial viscosity with general multi-species reaction and reaction-dependent equation of state, % under the necessary conditions of strong spectral stability, i.e., stable point spectrum of the linearized operator about the wave, transversality of the profile as a connection in the traveling-wave ODE, and hyperbolic stability of the associated Chapman--Jouguet (square-wave) approximation. Notably, our results apply to combustion waves of any type: weak or strong, detonations or deflagrations, reducing the study of stability to verification of a readily numerically checkable Evans function condition. Together with spectral results of Lyng and Zumbrun, this gives immediately stability of small-amplitude strong detonations in the small heat-release (i.e., fluid-dynamical) limit, simplifying and greatly extending previous results obtained by energy methods by Liu--Ying and Tesei--Tan for Majda's model and the reactive Navier--Stokes equations, respectively

A stability index for detonation waves in Majda's model for reacting flow

Using Evans function techniques, we develop a stability index for weak and strong detonation waves analogous to that developed for shock waves in [GZ,BSZ], yielding useful necessary conditions for stability. Here, we carry out the analysis in the context of the Majda model, a simplified model for reacting flow; the method is extended to the full Navier-Stokes equations of reacting flow in [Ly,LyZ]. The resulting stability condition is satisfied for all nondegenerate, i.e., spatially exponentially decaying, weak and strong detonations of the Majda model in agreement with numerical experiments of [CMR] and analytical results of [Sz,LY] for a related model of Majda and Rosales. We discuss also the role in the ZND limit of degenerate, subalgebraically decaying weak detonation and (for a modified, ``bump-type'' ignition function) deflagration profiles, as discussed in [GS.1-2] for the full equations.Comment: 36 pages, 3 figure

Stability analysis for combustion fronts traveling in hydraulically resistant porous media

We study front solutions of a system that models combustion in highly hydraulically resistant porous media. The spectral stability of the fronts is tackled by a combination of energy estimates and numerical Evans function computations. Our results suggest that there is a parameter regime for which there are no unstable eigenvalues. We use recent works about partially parabolic systems to prove that in the absence of unstable eigenvalues the fronts are convectively stable.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure

Combustion waves in a model with chain branching reaction and their stability

In this paper the travelling wave solutions in the adiabatic model with two-step chain branching reaction mechanism are investigated both numerically and analytically in the limit of equal diffusivity of reactant, radicals and heat. The properties of these solutions and their stability are investigated in detail. The behaviour of combustion waves are demonstrated to have similarities with the properties of nonadiabatic one-step combustion waves in that there is a residual amount of fuel left behind the travelling waves and the solutions can exhibit extinction. The difference between the nonadiabatic one-step and adiabatic two-step models is found in the behaviour of the combustion waves near the extinction condition. It is shown that the flame velocity drops down to zero and a standing combustion wave is formed as the extinction condition is reached. Prospects of further work are also discussed.Comment: pages 32, figures 2

On the One-dimensional Stability of Viscous Strong Detonation Waves

Building on Evans function techniques developed to study the stability of viscous shocks, we examine the stability of viscous strong detonation wave solutions of the reacting Navier-Stokes equations. The primary result, following the work of Alexander, Gardner & Jones and Gardner & Zumbrun, is the calculation of a stability index whose sign determines a necessary condition for spectral stability. We show that for an ideal gas this index can be evaluated in the ZND limit of vanishing dissipative effects. Moreover, when the heat of reaction is sufficiently small, we prove that strong detonations are spectrally stable provided the underlying shock is stable. Finally, for completeness, the stability index calculations for the nonreacting Navier-Stokes equations are includedComment: 66 pages, 7 figure