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Non-normality in combustion–acoustic interaction in diffusion flames: a critical revision

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2013

Luca Magri*
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK
K. Balasubramanian
Affiliation:
C. N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3840, USA
R. I. Sujith
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, Tamil Nadu, India
M. P. Juniper
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK
*
Email address for correspondence: lm547@cam.ac.uk

Abstract

Perturbations in a non-normal system can grow transiently even if the system is linearly stable. If this transient growth is sufficiently large, it can trigger self-sustained oscillations from small initial disturbances. This has important practical consequences for combustion–acoustic oscillations, which are a persistent problem in rocket and aircraft engines. Balasubramanian & Sujith (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 594, 2008, pp. 29–57) modelled an infinite-rate chemistry diffusion flame in an acoustic duct and found that the transient growth in this system can amplify the initial energy by a factor, ${G}_{max} $, of the order of $1{0}^{5} $ to $1{0}^{7} $. However, recent investigations by L. Magri and M. P. Juniper have brought to light certain errors in that paper. When the errors are corrected, ${G}_{max} $ is found to be of the order of 1 to 10, revealing that non-normality is not as influential as it was thought to be.

Type
Papers
Copyright
©2013 Cambridge University Press 

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References

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