Turbulent Flame Structure

Sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Department of Energy

Most practical combustion devices operate under turbulent conditions. The study is challenging because it couples two very difficult areas: turbulence and chemical kinetics. Under certain situations the turbulent flame can be considered to consist of collections of laminar flamelets and the analysis can be significantly simplified. We are currently formulating turbulent flame theories in which the dynamic behavior of such laminar flamelets in the highly strained turbulent flow field is realistically described.