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The effects of varying turbulence intensity and turbulence length scale on premixed turbulent flame propagation are investigated using Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS). The DNS dataset contains the results of a set of turbulent flame simulations based on separate and systematic changes in either turbulence intensity or turbulence integral length scale while keeping all other parameters constant. All flames considered are in the thin reaction zones regime. Several aspects of flame behaviour are analysed and compared, either by varying the turbulence intensity at constant integral length scale, or by varying the integral length scale at constant turbulence intensity. The turbulent flame speed is found to increase with increasing turbulence intensity and also with increasing integral length scale. Changes in the turbulent flame speed are generally accounted for by changes in the flame surface area, but some deviation is observed at high values of turbulence intensity. The probability density functions (pdfs) of tangential strain rate and mean flame curvature are found to broaden with increasing turbulence intensity and also with decreasing integral length scale. The response of the correlation between tangential strain rate and mean flame curvature is also investigated. The statistics of displacement speed and its components are analysed, and the findings indicate that changes in response to decreasing integral length scale are broadly similar to those observed for increasing turbulence intensity, although there are some interesting differences. These findings serve to improve current understanding of the role of turbulence length scales in flame propagation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probability density functions of the components of stretch rate are investigated using a previously-published Direct Numerical Simulation dataset spanning a range of turbulence intensities in the Thin Reaction Zones (TRZ) regime. The dataset was generated by varying the turbulence intensity across five different simulations while maintaining fixed the remaining physico-chemical input parameters such as integral length scale and laminar flame thickness and speed. Across the entire dataset, the joint probability density function of stretch rate and displacement speed displays a distinctive shape with two branches consistent with previous studies at low turbulence intensities. This joint probability density function is analysed further by extracting individual contributions of stretch rate components to determine their relative importance across the branches. The curvature dependence of displacement speed appears to play an important role in shaping these branches. Implications of this result with regard to evaluation of the components of stretch rate in the TRZ regime are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "Geometrical Properties and Turbulent Flame Speed Measurements in Stationary Premixed V-Flames Using Direct Numerical Simulation" that was published in a 2011 issue is presented.

Three dimensional, fully compressible direct numerical simulations (DNS) of premixed turbulent flames are carried out in a V-flame configuration. The governing equations and the numerical implementation are described in detail, including modifications made to the Navier-Stokes Characteristic Boundary Conditions (NSCBC) to accommodate the steep transverse velocity and composition gradients generated when the flame crosses the boundary. Three cases, at turbulence intensities, u′/ s, of 1, 2, and 6 are considered. The influence of the flame holder on downstream flame properties is assessed through the distributions of the surface-conditioned displacement speed, curvature and tangential strain rates, and compared to data from similarly processed planar flames. The distributions are found to be indistinguishable from planar flames for distances greater than about 17 δ downstream of the flame holder, where δ is the laminar flame thermal thickness. Favre mean fields are constructed, and the growth of the mean flame brush is found to be well described by simple Taylor type diffusion. The turbulent flame speed, s is evaluated from an expression describing the propagation speed of an isosurface of the mean reaction progress variable $\tilde{c}$ in terms of the imbalance between the mean reactive, diffusive, and turbulent fluxes within the flame brush. The results are compared to the consumption speed, s, calculated from the integral of the mean reaction rate, and to the predictions of a recently developed flame speed model (Kolla et al., Combust Sci Technol 181(3):518-535, ). The model predictions are improved in all cases by including the effects of mean molecular diffusion, and the overall agreement is good for the higher turbulence intensity cases once the tangential convective flux of $\tilde{c}$ is taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The statistical behaviour of turbulent kinetic energy transport in turbulent premixed flames is analysed using data from three-dimensional Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of freely propagating turbulent premixed flames under decaying turbulence. For flames within the corrugated flamelets regime, it is observed that turbulent kinetic energy is generated within the flame brush. By contrast, for flames within the thin reaction zones regime it has been found that the turbulent kinetic energy decays monotonically through the flame brush. Similar trends are observed also for the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy. Within the corrugated flamelets regime, it is demonstrated that the effects of the mean pressure gradient and pressure dilatation within the flame are sufficient to overcome the effects of viscous dissipation and are responsible for the observed augmentation of turbulent kinetic energy in the flame brush. In the thin reaction zones regime, the effects of the mean pressure gradient and pressure dilatation terms are relatively much weaker than those of viscous dissipation, resulting in a monotonic decay of turbulent kinetic energy across the flame brush. The modelling of the various unclosed terms of the turbulent kinetic energy transport equation has been analysed in detail. The predictions of existing models are compared with corresponding quantities extracted from DNS data. Based on this a-priori DNS assessment, either appropriate models are identified or new models are proposed where necessary. It is shown that the turbulent flux of turbulent kinetic energy exhibits counter-gradient (gradient) transport wherever the turbulent scalar flux is counter-gradient (gradient) in nature. A new model has been proposed for the turbulent flux of turbulent kinetic energy, and is found to capture the qualitative and quantitative behaviour obtained from DNS data for both the corrugated flamelets and thin reaction zones regimes without the need to adjust any of the model constants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we study the possibility to account for preferential diffusion effects in lean turbulent premixed flames in numerical predictions with reduced chemistry. We studied the situation when hydrogen is added to methane at levels of 20% and 40% by volume in the fuel, at lean combustion ( ϕ = 0.7) with air. The base case of pure methane was used as a reference. In this case preferential diffusion effects are negligible. First the sensitivity of the mass burning rate to flame stretch was investigated, in one dimensional computations with detailed chemistry, to set reference values. Then the framework of the Flamelet Generated Manifolds (FGM) was used to construct an adequate chemical method to take preferential diffusion into account, without the need for using detailed chemistry. To that end a generalization of the method was presented in which five controlling variables are required. For this system, proper transport equations and effective Lewis numbers where derived. In practice not all five variables are necessary to include and as a first step we limited the amount in the numerical tests in this study to two controlling variables. The method was then tested in configurations in which there was an interaction of coherent vortices and turbulence with flames. It was demonstrated that a minimum of two controlling variables is needed to account for the changed mass burning rate as function of stretch and curvature. It was shown that one-dimensional FGM as well as one-step Arrhenius kinetics can not describe this relation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]