Numerical analysis of flow fields generated by accelerating flames
Presented here is a numerical technique for the analysis of non-steady flow fields generated by accelerating flames in gaseous media. Of particular interest in the study is the evaluation of the non-steady effects on the flow field and the possible transition of the combustion process to detonation caused by an abrupt change in the burning speed of an initially steady flame propagating in an unconfined combustible gas mixture. Optically recorded observations of accelerating flames established that the flow field can be considered to consist of non-steady flow fields associated with an assembly of interacting shock waves, contact discontinuities, deflagration and detonation fronts. In the analysis, these flow fields are treated as spatially one-dimensional, the influence of transport phenomena is considered to be negligible, and unburned and burned substances are assumed to behave as perfect gases with constant, but different, specific heats. The basis of the numerical technique is an explicit, two step, second order accurate, finite difference scheme employed to integrate the flow field equations expressed in divergence form. The burning speed, governing the motion of the deflagration, is expressed in the form of a power law dependence on pressure and temperature immediately ahead of its front. The steady wave solution is obtained by the vector polar interaction technique, that is, by determining the point of intersection between the loci of end states in the plane of the two interaction invariants, pressure and particle velocity. The technique is illustrated by a numerical example in which a steady flame experiences an abrupt change in its burning speed. Solutions correspond either to the eventual reestablishment of a steady state flow field commensurate with the burning speed or to the transition to detonation. The results are in satisfactory agreement with experimental observations.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 5003924
- Report Number(s):
- LBL-7233
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions of document are illegible. Thesis
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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