Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Committee Chair

Vyacheslav Akkerman

Committee Co-Chair

Ismail B. Celik

Committee Member

Hailin Li

Committee Member

Scott W. Wayne

Abstract

Premixed flame acceleration is especially strong in the case of flame propagation in tubes or channels. Being a reasonably simple configuration to investigate fundamental flame properties, combustion tubes have numerous practical applications such as safety issues in mines, subways and power plants. This work is devoted to the analytical formulation and computational simulations of premixed flame acceleration induced by wall friction in tubes/channels. Specifically, the evolution of the flame dynamics and morphology is determined, and the main characteristics of the flame acceleration such as the flame shape and propagation speed, the acceleration rate as well as the combustion-generated velocity profile in the fresh premixture are quantified. It is shown that the flame acceleration is promoted with the increase in the thermal expansion in the burning process, whereas it weakens with the increase in the Reynolds number. The intrinsic accuracy and the limitations of the analytical theory are determined and validated by means of direct numerical simulations. Computational and analytical results are compared with recent experiments, and the numerical simulations bridge a certain gap between the experimental measurements and analytical formulations.

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