Flame Propagation through Periodic Vortices

J. W. DOLD* and 0. S. KERR

School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1 m I. U.K.

P. NIKOLOVA

Institute of Mechanics and Biomechanics, 4 Bonchev Str., Sofia, Bulgaria

The discovery of a new class of Navier-Stokes solutions representing

steady periodic stretched vortices [l] offers a useful test-bed for examining interactions between flames and complex flow-fields. After briefly describing these vortex solutions and their wide-ranging parameterisation in terms of wavelength and amplitude, this article examines their effect on flames of constant normal propagation speed as observed through numerical solutions of an eikonal equation. Over certain ranges of vortex amplitude and flame-speed, a corridor of enhanced flame passage is seen to be created as a leading flame-tip manages to leap-frog between successive vortices. However, for large enough amplitudes of vorticity or small enough flame-speeds, the flame fails to be able to benefit from the advection due to the vortices. It is shown that the leading tips of such flames are effectively trapped by the stretched vortices.

INTRODUCTION

Amongst other things, understanding the manner in which flames interact with complex flow fields is central to developing a well-founded theory of turbulent flame propagation. A necessary component in developing any such understanding must lie with the nature of the flow-field itself. In true turbulence, of course, this is a very complicated and still poorly understood matter. However, a useful step forward can be taken by studying selected flowfields, some more suitable than others, in order to provide test cases for examining the response of flames to known flows. The more firmly such a test flow is rooted in the three dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, the more likely it is to have features in common with real turbulence. In this spirit, Marble [2] proposed a test problem consisting of a twodimensional decaying vortex in which initial flame and mixture properties could be specified as startup conditions (intended primarily for non-premixed combustion), and this flowfield has led to a number of studies of flame interactions with diffusing vortices [3, 41.

*Corresponding author. Presented at the Twenty-Fifth Symposium (International) on Combustion, Irvine, California, 31 July-5 August 1994.

Ashurst and Sivashinsky [5] employed an even simpler test flow involving square cells of sinusoidal velocity variation, which do not satisfy the Navier-Stokes equations. The recent discovery of a new class of Navier-Stokes solutions [l] provides another potentially useful test-bed for the study of flame and flow interactions, offering a number of distinctive and useful features. These solutions consist of steady periodic distributions of vorticity, arising in a three-dimensional stagnation-point flow field containing a unique direction of stretch and a unique direction of converging flow from infinity. All of the vorticity becomes aligned with the direction of stretch and solutions are found in which the vorticity becomes periodic in the third direction. For a given stretch-rate, solutions with any amplitude of vorticity distribution are found for wavelengths of the distribution above a critical wavelength. This results in a twoparameter family of solutions, depending on both wavelength and amplitude. For increased wavelengths the regions of strongest vorticity become more and more separated; increased amplitudes lead to more and more rapid rotation of fluid elements as they are eventually sucked into a vortex and ejected along its axis. The stretch plays the important three-dimensional role of sustaining the vorticity against diffusive decay.

COMBVSTIONAND FLAME 100: 359-366 (1995) Copyright 0 1995 by The Combustion Institute Published by Elsevier Science Inc.

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360 The underlying uniformity of the vorticity field in the direction of stretch also allows for flame and flow interactions to be carried out more simply as two-dimensional sub-problems, depending only on the two directions of nonuniformity in vorticity distribution. The roll-up that can be produced by these vortices, their repeated (periodic) occurrence along a plane of converging flow, and their well-defined structure both allow for a rich range of possible interactions and offer a useful test bed for investigating premixed and non-premixed combustion in complex flows. In this article, we begin by outlining briefly the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations that describes these vortices. We then present the results of a numerical study, using an eikonal formulation [6], simulating the propagation of thin premixed flames with constant normal flame speed through periodic arrays of stretched vortices. An increase in the overall (or mean) speed of flame passage around the vortices is found in some cases, as expected, but it is also shown that flames with a normal propagation speed that is too low are unable to proceed from one vortex to the next. During a part of their movement (from simple flat initial flame shapes) these flames resemble trapped flames, which can also be calculated. The modeling and calculations are carried out for the case of small heat release, the so called constant-density model, in which the flow field is decoupled from the flame behavs ior; this greatly simplifies the modeling. Although it is clear that the behavior of a real flame must be influenced by thermal expansion, it is seen that the constant-density model is sufficient to reveal a number of interesting dynamical features of the movement of a flame in this vortex field.
MODELS Periodic Stretched Vortices

J. W. DOLD ET AL. so that u and u represent deviations in the x and y components of velocity U(X,y, z), that are independent of a direction of uniform stretch z, from a simple stagnation-point flow field which involves no overall strain-component in the x direction. Incompressibility, V *u = 0, requires that u, + UY= 0, (2)

which can be satisfied by defining a disturbance stream function I,!& y) such that u = (c;, Conservation v= -I) X. (3)

of vorticity requires that

UOJX VW) hyw, + Aw + v(w,, + WYU) + = (4) where

Assuming that a periodic distribution of vorticity exists with fundamental wavenumber k, we can use the length-scale for momentum diffuI2 sion, (v/h) to construct a dimensionless strain-rate parameter
A =

-$

which may also be thought of as the square of a dimensionless wavelength of vorticity distribution, based on the length scale for momentum diffusion. It may also be thought of as a Reynolds number based on the wavelength, and the flow speed variation found over the same length in the direction of stretch. Also making lengths and velocities dimensionless in a straightforward way, appropriate dimensionless equations become identical to Eqs. 2-5, with the viscosity 1, set equal to unity (its dimensionless value) and all primes, as in Eq. 6, dropped. Full solutions can now be sought in the form 1c, =
b-,

We can begin by examining sional flow field of the form

a three-dimen-

2 [a,(y) k= --u:
= -b,,

+ ib,(y)le kx, a, = b, = b, = 0,

a-k = akr (7)

u= [

I]+ [:y],

(1)

where the real coefficients ak and b, are functions of y only. The vorticity conservation

FLAME PROPAGATION

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361

equation requires that these functions satisfy the sequence of ordinary differential equations ar + hyu; + (A - 2k2)4 - k2Aa, + k4ak + i[b;111 hyb + (A - 2k + ; )b;l. -k2Ayb; - k2Ab, + k4b,] - k%yaZ

= i C {(a;_, + ib;_,) I= --r x [la; - /a, + i(Zb; 13b,)] -(k - l)(a,_, + ib,_,) (8) set of tween propagation and nonuniform advection [5, 7-91. For this purpose, taking a function f to be such that a flame lies at f<x, t> = c, (11)
Fig. 1. The distortion of a sheet of fluid arriving from y= +m as it enters a region with periodic, steady counter-rotating vorticity in a stretched flow field, satisfying the Navier-Stokes equations. The dark lines follow the movement of individual fluid elements, showing that almost all fluid is sucked towards the core of a vortex.

x[a; - I + i(b; - l*b;)]} d, for any k, together with a suitable boundary conditions, namely a;(O) = b,(O) = a,(4 = b,(a) = 0,

(9)

which incorporates the symmetries that are necessary for ensuring bounded disturbances at y = --. It is convenient also to define an amplitude for any solution such that A = +(max(t)) - min($>). (10)

the proper dynamical evolution of the flame is reproduced if f satisfies the eikonal field equation [6] f, + u. Vf = SiVfl. (12)

In this form, if A > 1, solutions are found for any value of A > 0 having a,(O) > 0, which fixes the phase of the solution. In each case, we use a combined shooting and continuation method [l] to obtain the functions a,(y) and b,(y), finding that these functions diminish sufficiently rapidly with increasing k that typically very little contribution to the solution arises after k = 7 or 8. An example of the full flow-field associated with one solution is shown in Fig. 1.
Thin Flame Propagation

It is useful to employ an eikonal formulation for describing the propagation of a flame through the nonuniform flow field u [6]. We will consider only a flame with constant normal flame-speed S and no density jump, so that the hydrodynamics can be decoupled from the combustion. This approximation certainly simplifies some of the physics, but also retains the potential for isolating strong interactions be-

Moreover, solving for f using this model formulation can be made to simulate many different flames in the same calculation since any isopleth of f, that is f(x, t) = c for any ualue of c, can represent a flame. Solutions of Eq. 12 are thus able to provide a great deal of information about the combined advection and propagation of flames around vortices [5, 7-91. We solve Eq. 12 using a straightforward characteristic method, based on the characteristic velocity u - SVf/]Vf], with second-order differencing taken over a quadrant of 8 points in the general direction from which the characteristic arrives at any one point. This is found to give solutions that are free from oscillations and in which cusps in flame shape are captured cleanly. Also, being quadratic in order (indeed having some cubic terms because of the g-point differencing in two-dimensions) the method is relatively accurate and free of numerical dif-

362 fusion even when using modest numbers points. Stationary Thin Flames As will be seen, stationary flames can also arise when the velocity field exactly balances a flame normal propagation speed at every s point. This happens where u*ri = -s, (13) of

J. W. DOLD ET AL.

in which h(x) is the unit normal vector to a flame surface at the point X. In general, this defines either two unit normal directions (if 1~12 S) or none (if 1~1< S). Given one unit normal that lies perpendicular to a stationary flame surface, the corresponding tangent direction i((x), for which s^. it = 0, with s^ rotated (say) anti-clockwise from 5, provides a differential equation for the path of the flame surface x(s) as a function of arclength s, since x(s) must satisfy x, = i(X), s^*ri = 0. (14)

Thus, through any point x there are either two or no possible tangents to any possible stationary flame. Any stationary flame solution that might be found must also depend on the overall shape of the flame, so that Eq. 14 needs to be solved subject to reasonable boundary conditions, such as that a flame should not spiral around itself (requiring a flame to subsist on burnt gases) or disappear suddenly at a point where JuI = S, although a closed limit-cycle would be acceptable as a solution representing a flame trapped by the suction into a vortex. Shooting techniques prove well-suited to solving Eqs. 13 and 14 in order to determine stationary flame-profiles. RESULTS Advection and Propagation Taking a sample flow-field with h = 6, A = 20, and S = 8, Fig. 2 shows a sequence of contour diagrams of the field variable f calculated from the simple initial condition f = x. These initial data represent a family of flames (each mem-

Fig. 2. Profiles of flames traveling from right to left through a layer of steady periodic vorticity distribution, having A = 6 and A = 20, at a constant normal flame speed of S = 8 (as calculated using the eikonal Eq. 12 which represents flames as isopleths of f). Contours of f at different dimensionless times are shown when: r = $; (b), t = 4; cc), t = 1; and (d), t = 3. The centres of regions of counterrotating vorticity are marked by small fans. The development of a corridor of enhanced flame passage is clearly seen.

ber depending on a choice of c) that start out being aligned parallel to the y axis. It is very clear from this figure that flame movement is enhanced where flow around the vortex cores is in the same direction as the flame propagation. Where the flow inhibits s flame movement, directional effects quickly lead to the formation of cusps where different directions of propagation cross. In these calculations, flames assisted by advection in parts of the flow also manage to find their way to other regions where advection assists flame-movement in a way that enhances the overall flame transit. After a long enough evolution it is clear that a corridor of enhanced flame passage appears along the line of vortices. The propagation through this corridor is led by a nose of flame that appears to find an optimal path through the flow-field so that it is able to cross from one vortex to the next in the least possible time.

FLAME PROPAGATION Enhanced Flame Speed

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363

By following the average rate of increase of f within the corridor of enhanced flame-passage (over a long enough time) the effective increase in flame-speed can be estimated. In particular, with the initial condition f = x, the effective flame speed is precisely (151 the averaging being taken at any point or path within the corridor of enhanced flame passage; we, in fact, average firstly over the entire path for which, at fixed y, f(x, y, t> has its highest value, and secondly over time, usually over the period from t = 1 to t = 2 or longer. Formula 15 is confirmed by the fact that I( = 1, as ensured by the periodicity, for which f<~ + 27r, y, t) = 27~ + f(x, y, t). Figure 3 presents this overall effect of advection around the vortices on the mean flame-speed S, for two different fixed amplitudes A ranging over different values of S. It can be seen that increasing the ratio A/S serves to increase the effective flame speed above the speed without vorticity provided the values of A/S do not grow too large; the increase in effective flame speed is found to be approximately linear when the vorticity level is low (or flame-speed is high). At increased lev-

els of vorticity, there is another effect which manages to reverse the gain in flame-speed acquired at lower levels of vorticity. The flame-speed decreases once A/S increases above a threshold value, dropping very rapidly in value. It is apparent from this that a point is reached where flames are unable to penetrate through the arrays of vortices in any preferred manner. Flame Trapping If a flame is unable to penetrate at some stage from one vortex to the next, then the leading parts of the flame might be expected to come to a standstill. This leads one to search for stationary flame solutions. It turns out that Eqs. 13 and 14 do yield stationary solutions for trapped flames at sufficiently large values of
A/S.

Superimposed on a representation of the x and y components of the flow field for fixed values for A and A, Fig. 4 shows a sequence of flame-solutions trapped around the core of a vortex. As S increases, the flame is able to advance further away from the vortex center, overcoming more of the flow of fluid that is

t
1.6

A = 40

Fig. 4. Profiles

of stationary

flames

trapped

by the inflow

Fig. 3. Fractional increases in effective mean-speed of flame passage S, through the layer of vorticity distribution, as functions of A/S, from calculations of the eikonal Eq. 12 using two fixed vorticity distributions, having A = 20 and A = 40, with h = 6. The variations for small A/S (large 5 are similar, and nearly linear, in both cases; at ) smaller normal flame-speeds S the flames fail to take advantage of the nonuniform flow-field.

around a region of concentrated vorticity (having A = 6 and A = 10) with flow directions and magnitudes illustrated by the short lines. Trapped flames are shown for normal propagation speeds of S = 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5. 3, and 3.42. Two regions for which (~1 < S (= 3.42), within which a flame of speed S could not be held stationary by the flow, are shown as shaded; and a flame of speed S = 3.42 is seen to just avoid touching these regions. This demonstrates that trapped flames do not exist (for this flow-field) at speeds of propagation above a critical value close to S = 3.42.

364 sucked towards the vortex as an overall result of the divergence of fluid along the line of any vortex. This continues until a value S = S&4, A) is reached where a trapped solution touches the region where IuJ I S. As pointed out earlier, no stationary solution can exist within these regions so that trapped solutions cease to exist above this critical value of S. That this value involves a close relationship with the failure or success of flames in passing between vortices is confirmed in Fig. 3 where these critical levels (both for A = 20 and A = 40) are marked on the diagram and correspond closely with the loss of enhanced propagation. Because it would correspond to zero speed of propagation, A/S, must overestimate the point of loss of enhanced propagation speed, which cannot fall below the value of unity since flames propagating at this speed are still to be found outside the layer of nonuniform vorticity. It is interesting to compare this result with an unsteady solution of the eikonal Eq. 12 for a value of S that is not high enough for the flame to pass from one vortex to the next. Such a calculation, at one time, is shown in Fig. 5. In this diagram, certain contours show that an initial flame distortion by the flow field at the initial time has come to a standstill as a bulb of flame is unable to escape from the sucking

J. W. DOLD ET AL. effect of a vortex. This bulb has a very similar form to the steady trapped flame shapes in Fig. 4.
CONCLUSIONS

Fig. 5. Profiles of flames travelling from right to left, under the same conditions as in Fig. 2, but for a constant normal flame speed of S = 3;. Isopleths of f are plotted at the dimensionless time t = 1. The bottlenecking in between the vortices, of contours at the nose of the flame, demonstrates the difficulty that a flame of this propagation speed experiences in escaping from the sucking effect of each vortex, resulting in a much reduced mean speed of flame passage and flame profiles that resemble, for a while, the shapes of trapped flames.

Some examples of a new family of periodic stretched vortex solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations have been used in this article to illustrate part of the manner in which flames can interact with complex flow fields. In particular, as solutions of an eikonal equation for constant normal flame-speed show, the flames are able to take advantage of nonuniform advection to travel more quickly. Around one side of any region of increased vorticity the advection helps the flame movement. After s having been helped in this way, the flame then has to be able to escape from the overall suction of the vortex in order to be able to move on to take advantage of the advection around another vortex. The suction associated with the stretching of vortices can therefore hinder a flame movement while the advection s around vortices aids its overall movement. Thus, the flow has within it the essential ingredients both for enhancing the passage of a flame through an array of vortices and for holding back the flame, depending on the intensity of the vortices and on the normal flame speed. In some cases, it has been shown that flames could even become completely trapped within regions of enhanced vorticity. It seems likely that these processes should reflect at least part of the experiences a premixed flame would undergo in a turbulent flow field. One mechanism for enhanced flame movement in turbulence is not immediately available for study with the particular steady-flow solutions described in this article. The propagation of a flame along a vortex should also provide a significant setup for non-uniform flame advancement in which density changes and curvature effects should be very important; this mechanism is likely to be especially important if and when flames become trapped within vortices, unless three-dimensional curvature effects then restrict flame speeds excessively. The unsteady movement of vortices themselves is also likely to be a major factor in real turbulent flame propagation.

FLAME PROPAGATION

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In spite of these more general aspects, this article shows that the new Navier-Stokes solutions described here do make available some insights into the interplay between propagation and advection. As a test-bed for combustion problems, it complements significantly the two-dimensional initial-value vortex proposed by Marble [2] and the simple doubly periodic flow-field of Ashurst and Sivashinsky [51 for some flame problems, by being steady Navier-Stokes solutions and therefore, of necessity, stretched. These properties, and the mixing-layer context within which the vortices appear, make the solutions useful for examining both premixed and non-premixed burning in the presence of non-uniform vorticity.

ERB351OPL920821) enabling her to spend the months of April to June 1993 at Bristol University.

REFERENCES
1. Kerr, 0. S. and Dold, J. W., J. Fluid Mech., 276307-325 (1994). 2. Marble, F. E., in Recent Adrtances in the Aerospace Sciences, Plenum, New York, 1985, pp. 3955413. 3. Laverdant, A. M. and Candel, S. M.. Comhust. Sci. Technol. 60:7Y (1988). 4. Ashurst, W. T., Lect. Notes Phys. 352:3-21 (1989). 5. Ashurst, W. T. and Sivashinsky, G. I., Cornhusf. Sri. Tech&. 80:159-164 (1991). Markstein, G. H., Nonsteady Flame Propagation, Pergamon, 1964, p. 8. Kerstein, A. R., Ashurst, W. T. and Williams, F. A., Phys. Reel. A 37:2728 (1988). Ashurst. W. T., Sivashinsky, G. 1. and Yakhot, V.,
Combust. Sci. Technol. h2:273-284 (1988).

J. W. Dold was supported in this work by an Advanced Fellowship from the S.E.R.C.; 0. S. Kerr was supported by a Research Grant from the S.E.R.C. and I. P. Nikolova was supported by an E.C. Visiting Fellowship Grant (No.

Ashurst, W. T. and Williams, F. A.. Twenty-Third International .$mposium on Combustion, The Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, 1990, pp. 543-550.
Receked 30 Nol emher 1993; reked 27 Ma) 1994

Comments
S. Ibrahim, British Gas, UK. Your test cases are at small values of ST/S (turbulent to laminar burning velocity) which are of order of l-l.6 and low turbulence intensity (u /S). Have you done any tests at high turbulence level, in order to confirm the effective flame speed trend that you have obtained? Reply. In this preliminary work we have been working with relatively low magnitude vortices in order to establish the initial trends. Calculations involving larger amplitudes are planned.

in space. Thus the situation of parallel vortices you consider is very unlikely to occur.
Author Reply. The exact configuration s

Author s

J. Chomiak, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. In turbulent flows the vorticity is con-

centrated

in vortex tubes randomly distributed

of vortices that we consider is not intended to mimic turbulence precisely, although the observations from D.N.S. that you describe provide a strong motivation for its study. The vortices that we present here provide a useful test-bed for investigating complex flame and flow interactions, in which the fact that they are exact steady Navier-Stokes solutions, sustained by stretching, imparts more features in common with real turbulent vortices than is found for any other well-understood flows that have been studied in the same way to date, with the possible exception of Burger vortex. It is also s worth mentioning that these particular

366 stretched vortices only fall into one range of solutions within a wider class of steady solutions that is still under investigation.

J. W. DOLD ET AL. of rotation. It is not, however, possible to have more than two such arrays stacked on each other. 2. We have considered the possibility of thermal expansion in the vortices. The governing equations do allow for steady solutions where the chemical constituents, the temperature, and hence the density vary only with x and y, and not z. In principle we could find solutions to these equations, and hence find steady flame solutions with expansion effects included, but this would be relatively difficult and we have not yet done so. Non-steady flames with expansion would destroy the underlying steady vorticity field as they propagate, requiring a different means of study from that employed here. In such a study it is not clear that a small heat-release approximation would be much easier to solve or interpret than order one heat releases. However, it is a very important currently unsolved problem to determine the relationship between highly non-uniform flow fields and expansion in propagating flames.

R. Klein, RWTH Aachen,

Germany. 1. Is your exact solution of the Navier-Stokes equations extendable to a stack of parallel arrays of vortices, so that you could describe interactions of those flame tunnels? This configuration would be very close to actual turbulent flame propagation. 2. Did you assess whether inclusion of at least weak heat release in your model is feasible?

is a large variety of possible steady solutions to the Navier-Stokes equation in this stagnation point flow, more than we have described here. Within these possible solutions are some that have two parallel arrays of vortices stacked on each other, with adjacent vortices having opposite senses

Author Reply. 1. There s