Growth of Flame Front Turbulence

An experimental study was performed on the growth of flame front turbulence by stimulating a laminar propagating flame with weak pressure waves, which were generated by sudden breaking of the membrane separating a small chamber from the combustion chamber. The flame front behavior was explored by using high-speed schlieren photography. About one millisecond after the first weak pressure wave passed the flame front, a very fine disturbance appeared at the central part of the flame front, where no effect of the wall turbulence could appear. Then, the area and strength of the disturbance were observed to increase rapidly. The effects of the pressure wave intensity, fuel concentration, and fuel type on the growth of this type of flame front turbulence were examined in detail.