Premixed flame shapes and polynomials

The nonlinear nonlocal Michelson-Sivashinsky equation for isolated crests of unstable flames is studied, using pole-decompositions as starting point. Polynomials encoding the numerically computed 2N flame-slope poles, and auxiliary ones, are found to closely follow a Meixner Pollaczek recurrence; accurate steady crest shapes ensue for N>=3. Squeezed crests ruled by a discretized Burgers equation involve the same polynomials. Such explicit approximate shape still lack for finite-N pole-decomposed periodic flames, despite another empirical recurrence.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physica D :Nonlinear Phenomen

Stationary solutions and Neumann boundary conditions in the Sivashinsky equation

New stationary solutions of the (Michelson) Sivashinsky equation of premixed flames are obtained numerically in this paper. Some of these solutions, of the bicoalescent type recently described by Guidi and Marchetti, are stable with Neumann boundary conditions. With these boundary conditions, the time evolution of the Sivashinsky equation in the presence of a moderate white noise is controlled by jumps between stationary solutions

Flame Wrinkles From The Zhdanov-Trubnikov Equation

International audienceThe Zhdanov-Trubnikov equation describing wrinkled premixed flames is studied, using pole decomposi tions as starting points. Its one-parameter (−1 0 (over-stabilisation) such analytical solutions can yield accurate flame shapes for 0 < c < 0.6. Open problems are invoked

Wrinkled flames and geometrical stretch

Localized wrinkles of thin premixed flames subject to hydrodynamic instability and geometrical stretch of uniform intensity (S) are studied. A stretch-affected nonlinear and nonlocal equation, derived from an inhomogeneous Michelson-Sivashinsky equation, is used as a starting point, and pole decompositions are used as a tool. Analytical and numerical descriptions of isolated (centered or multicrested) wrinkles with steady shapes (in a frame) and various amplitudes are provided; their number increases rapidly with 1/S > 0. A large constantS > 0 weakens or suppresses all localized wrinkles (the larger the wrinkles, the easier the suppression), whereasS < 0 strengthens them; oscillations of S further restrict their existence domain. Self-similar evolutions of unstable many-crested patterns are obtained. A link between stretch, nonlinearity, and instability with the cutoff size of the wrinkles in turbulent flames is suggested. Open problems are evoked

Shapes and speeds of forced premixed flames

Steady premixed flames subjected to space-periodic steady forcing are studied via inhomogeneous Michelson-Sivashinsky (MS) and then Burgers equations. For both, the flame slope is posited to comprise contributions from complex poles to locate, and from a base-slope profile chosen in three classes (pairs of cotangents, single-sine functions or sums thereof). Base-slope-dependent equations for the pole locations, along with formal expressions for the wrinkling-induced flame-speed increment and the forcing function, are obtained on excluding movable singularities from the latter. Besides exact few-pole cases, integral equations that rule the pole-density for large wrinkles are solved analytically. Closed-form flame-slope and forcing-function profiles ensue, along with flame-speed increment vs forcing-intensity curves; numerical checks are provided. The Darrieus-Landau instability mechanism allows MS flame speeds to initially grow with forcing intensity much faster than those of identically forced Burgers fronts; only the fractional difference in speed increments slowly decays at intense forcing, which numerical (spectral) timewise integrations also confirm. Generalizations and open problems are evoked.Comment: Revised version submitted to Phys. Rev.

Supernovae: an example of complexity in the physics of compressible fluids

The supernovae are typical complex phenomena in fluid mechanics with very different time scales. We describe them in the light of catastrophe theory, assuming that successive equilibria between pressure and gravity present a saddle-node bifurcation. In the early stage we show that the loss of equilibrium may be described by a generic equation of the Painlev\'e I form. In the final stage of the collapse, just before the divergence of the central density, we show that the existence of a self-similar collapsing solution compatible with the numerical observations imposes that the gravity forces are stronger than the pressure ones. This situation differs drastically in its principle from the one generally admitted where pressure and gravity forces are assumed to be of the same order. Our new self-similar solution (based on the hypothesis of dominant gravity forces) which matches the smooth solution of the outer core solution, agrees globally well with our numerical results. Whereas some differences with the earlier self-similar solutions are minor, others are very important. For example, we find that the velocity field becomes singular at the collapse time, diverging at the center, and decreasing slowly outside the core, whereas previous works described a finite velocity field in the core which tends to a supersonic constant value at large distances. This discrepancy should be important for explaining the emission of remnants in the post-collapse regime. Finally we describe the post-collapse dynamics, when mass begins to accumulate in the center, also within the hypothesis that gravity forces are dominant.Comment: Workshop in Honor of Paul Manneville, Paris (2013

Rich Spray-Flame Propagating through a 2D-Lattice of Alkane Droplets in Air

International audienceIn a recent numerical paper (Nicoli et al. Combust. Sci. Technol. vol. 186, pp. 103-119; 2014) [1], a model of isobaric flame propagation in lean sprays has been proposed. The initial state of the monodisperse mists was schematized by a system of individual alkane droplets initially located at the nodes of a face-centered 2D-lattice, surrounded by a saturated mixture of alkane and air. In the present study, the previous model is complemented with an original chemical scheme that allows us to study the combustion of rich alkane/air mixtures

Spray-Flame Dynamics in a Rich Droplet Array

International audienceIn a recent numerical paper (Nicoli et al. Combust. Sci. Technol. vol. 186, pp. 103-119; 2014) [1], a model of isobaric flame propagation in lean sprays has been proposed. The initial state of the monodisperse mists was schematized by a system of individual alkane droplets initially located at the nodes of a face-centered 2D-lattice, surrounded by a saturated mixture of alkane and air. In the present study, the previous model is complemented with an original chemical scheme that allows us to study the combustion of rich alkane/air mixtures

Premixed flames propagating freely in tubes

International audienceThis paper reports an experimental investigation of premixed propane and methane-air flames propagating freely in tubes 1.5 m long and with diameters 54 and 94 mm. Two regimes of propagation are distinguished by correlating the flame speed and the radius of curvature at the flame tip. The characteristic lengths are then related to the cut-off wavelengths estimated from linear theories and compared to previous results of Michelson-Sivashinsky simulations