512 INSTABILITY IN COMBUSTION CHAMBERS
4. KASKAN, W. E.: Fourth Symposium (Inter-
national) on Combustion, p. 575. Baltimore,
The Williams & Wilkins Co., 1953.
5. NEUMARK,J. I., AND ARONOVITSCH, G. V.: J.
Exptl. & Theoret. Phys., 5, 567 (1955) (in
Russian).
6. DUGGER, G. L., AND SIMON, D. L.: Fourth
Symposium (International) on Combustion,
p. 336. Baltimore, The Williams & Wilkins
Co., 1953.
7. LEWIS, B. : Selected Combustion Problems, p.
176. AGARD. London, Butterworths Sci.
Publ., 1954.
8. GRAD, H.: Comm. Pure & Appl. Math., 2, 79
(1949).
63
THE GROWTH OF DISTURBANCES IN A FLAME-GENERATED SHEAR REGION
By P E RRY L. BLACKSHEAR, JR.
Introduction
This paper describes a study of the growth of
disturbances in a flame-generated shear region.
The reasons for this work are two-fold:
(1) To shed light on the mechanism whereby
the flame zone can amplify incoming turbulence.
(2) To find a way to realize the beneficial effect
that burner resonance has on heat-release rates
without the destructive effects that usually
accompany such resonance.
Scurlock 1 has suggested that when a flame is
anchored in a duct the turbulence that has the
major effect on flame propagation is not that in
the incoming flow but that which arises within or
near the anchored flame zone. Markstein ~ has
shown that the plane combustion wave is un-
stable under certain conditions and that such
instability must be considered in formulating a
theory of turbulent flame propagation.
One way of studying instabilities due to a
baffle flameholder has been suggested by the work
of Haddock 3 and Zukoski and Marble. 4 They
showed that transition to turbulence in the flame-
holder boundary layer has an effect on both the
flameholding process and the flame appearance.
There is reason to believe that elements of the
a An abbreviation of a doctoral thesis at Case
Institute of Technology under Professor Harold
G. Elrod.
9. ISAKOFF, S. E.: Ind. Eng. Chem., 77, 413
(1955).
10. MORSE, P. M.: Vibrations and Sound, Ed. 2.
New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1948.
11. BERANEK, L. L.: Acoustics. New York,
McGraw-Hill Publ. Co., 1954.
12. FRAZER,R. A., ANDDUNCAN,W. J.: Proc. Roy.
Soc., London, A124, 642 (1929).
13. PUTN/~M,A. A., AND DENNIS, W. R.: Am. Soe.
Mech. Engrs., Paper no. 55-SA-48, presented
at 1955 Semi-annual Meeting.
14. CARRIER, G. 1~'.: Quart. Appl. Math., 13, 457
(1956).
15. TRUMAN,J. C., AND LIPSTEIN, N. J.: J. Aero.
Sci., 20, 846 (1953).
stability analyses for attached and free boundary
layers may be found useful in predicting turbu-
lent flame speeds in the near wake of the flame-
holder.
Further downstream of a baffle flameholder
the flow is unstable, owing to the rapid accelera-
tion of the hot gas in the core of the combustor.
The velocity profile for this region was first calcu-
lated by Scurlock. I In the analysis part of the
present paper a stability analysis is made on an
idealization of the profile calculated by Scurlock.
In the experimental part of this paper an
anchored "V" flame is disturbed by acoustic dis-
turbances in such a way that transverse velocity
components are present in the flame zone. The
frequencies at which these transverse velocity
components are amplified have been determined
and compared with the results of the analysis.
A comparison between analysis and experiment is
also made of the phase velocity at which a dis-
turbance moves along the flame front.
Both the analysis and experiment suggest that
in many practical applications the heat release
rate of a flame in a duct can be improved by sup-
plying disturbances that a flame zone can amplify.
Analysis
In order to formulate and solve the stability
problem of a flame in a duct a number of simplify-
 DISTURBANCE GROWTH IN FLAME-GENERATED SHEAR REGION 513

ing assumptions have been made. The most im- FRACTION BURNED
portant assumption is the neglect of viscosity.
Lin 5 and Piliow 6 have summarized the limitations F=I UI(1 h2)
-- Uo -- ;z (4)
of the inviscid analysis. In brief, we can learn
something about the frequencies which a profile Assuming the flame to spread so slowly that
can amplify through an inviscid analysis only the flow may be treated as parallel, the disturb-
when the profile has an inflexion point. Fortu- ance equation derived by Goldstein9 may be used.
nately the profile for the flame in a duct has a
point of inflexion. ( 02v' ) OsU
(u - c) _-- - ~ ' - ~'--
The profile studied is shown in Figure 1. Seur- \or Oy2
lock ~ showed that a profile similar to the one in (5)
1 d~ ~ Oy' , OUo-]
Figure 1 arose when a flame was anchored in a
duct. He found a hot-gas profile composed of
owj=o
slightly convex segments instead of straight-line In deriving Equation (5) from the continuity
segments. Tsien 7 found that if he assumed the and momentum equations, the first-order dis-
profile to be as shown in Figure 1, and calculated turbance quantities p'u', vr, p~ have been assumed
the relationships between U*/Uo, UI/Uo, F, to vary as e i'~(~-ct) times some function of y.
and h~/hl, the results obtained were in excellent
agreement with Seurlock's results--which were
obtained from fairly involved stepwise calcula-
tions.
REGtON ~ - L x
In the present work the idealization employed
REGION 3 ~ *~"
by Tsien and shown in Figure 1 is used in calculat- I _ ~ U ' U } {h2 Y)~
FLAME~ .~ -- __[.~__._.~__~1,/~_ - - - -
ing the steady-state profile and in the stability REGION 4 PI
analysis. The details of the analysis can be found
in Blackshear's work2 In the following para- FIG. 1. Geometry of flow field.
graphs are listed the assumptions and key rela-
tionships employed in the analysis. I t is easilY seen that in between the corners in
Assumption: The fluid is assumed incom- the profile of Figure l, Equation (5) reduces to
pressible, inviscid and non-heat conducting;
0v t
gravity is neglected. The mean flow normal to --
Oy2 - - a~v ' = 0 (6)
the axis of the two-dimensional test section is
assumed negligible.
Solutions of Equation (6) for the four regions
The steady state results of Tsien include:
of Figure 1 are connected across the corners in
the profile by requiring that Equation (5) hold
APEX VELOCITY
across the corners (see Rayleighl), and requiring
that v' be continuous at the corners. These con-
Uo - 1 + p2
o~ \u0/ - 1 (l) ditions plus the requirement that v' vanish at the
walls gives eight equations in the eight unknowns
HOT-GAS VELOCITY DISTRIBUTION A t , A 2 . . . D I , D2. These unknowns are the
constants in the solutions of Equation (6)

U--~ = I + ,: L\~/ - ] (2)

v~ = Ale "v + A2e-~u]I
v'2 = B~e~v + B~e-~vf
(7)

-- 1 + L\Vo/ - 1 ] - Uoj h2
etc., that apply to each of the four regions of
Figure 1. The requirement that there be non-
trivial solutions for these eight unknowns results
FLAME WIDTH in a determinantal equation that yields the rela-
tions between c, a, h~/hl which we seek. If c is
gl
expressed as a function of a, h2/h~, there result
h2 Uo
(3) three roots of c, one wholly real and two complex.
h,- / lp2"~U~ lp2 / o,F/U~\2 "]
l+;Lt o) -11 Because the disturbance was expressed as
~--e~(~-ct), the real part of c corresponds to a
514 INSTABILITY IN COMBUSTION CHAMBERS

phase velocity Cr and the quantity ac~ corre- for the region where the quantity under the radi-
sponds to an amplification rate; iie., the v' cal is negative.
eaCitela(X--Crt). The phase velocity Cr is most conveniently
The wholly real root corresponds to a dis- expressed by
turbance that is symmetric to the duct axis; the
c
complex solutions correspond to a damped and an
amplified antisymmetric disturbance. Only the U0 U0 1 n pl h~ 1
solution with the positive imaginary part, i.e., U* U1 2h2 ~- m- p~-- tLh11--
the amplified antisymmetric disturbance, is con- u0 u0 hl (9)

Is~ x
16 -- 2h~
ci-~-
o np[
14--
rap2 m p2
12~ ~.
"~ ~r'CONSTANT FREOUENCY where the radical is neglected unless real.
For a disturbance of given frequency that
2.h~
8-- %% propagates along the flame front at phase veloc-
~, ~ NEUTRAL ity c, the local wave number a is related to the
wave number at the fiameholder a0 by
4
U0
a = s0- (10)
Cr
I t I I I I I I "~ -'~1
o ., .z .3 .,* .5 .s .z .s .9 ~.o
~z/h,
Frequency f is related to a0 by f = (aoUo/2~r).
Equations (1), (3), (8), (9), and (10) have been
Fro. 2. Stability map for Scurlock's flow. Con-
tours of constant amplification rate ,~ci are given used to construct a stability map of the profile
2h~ studied. The map shown in Figure 2 is for
by lines of constant aci U~0 " Lines of constant fre-
p~/p2 = 7. It consists of contours of constant
quency show the path a given disturbance orig-
inating at flameholder tal(es as it propagates along amplification rate parameter aci(2hl/Uo and
flame zone at phase velocity c, . p~/p~ = 7. constant frequency on a 2ahi (the dimensionless
,( FLOW
wave number) vs h~/hl (the dimensionless flame
width) grid. This map can be used to follow the
amplification history of a disturbance of given
frequency as it propagates from the flameholder
to the station where h2/h~ = t. These results are
general in that they do not rely on a mode or
rate of flame spreading. If we wish to find what
frequency will possess the maximum over-all
amplification, we must make an additional
assumption. The following paragraphs are de-
FIG. 3. Streamlines of a neutral disturbance as
seen by observer moving at phase velocity c,. voted to claryifying the reasons for making this
assumption.
sidered. The amplification rate acl is most con- Figure 3 presents a qualitative picture of the
veniently expressed by the parameter nature of the disturbances propagating at phase
velocity. The streamline distributions are given
for a neutral disturbance in a reference plane
moving at the phase velocity cr so that the
acl Uo h2 streamlines are no longer a function of time.
There is motion relative to the "cat's eyes" of
the disturbance centers. In the hot flame core,
[-h, n p~/ ha 1 \-]" h, 1 the gas moves faster than c, ; in the colder gas,
outside the flame, the gas moves slower than c~.
To picture what happens to an amplified dis-
k_ m P2 .J mp2 turbance, imagine the y-amplitude of the wrinkles
 DISTURBANCGROWTH
E INFLAME-GENERATESHEAR
D REGION 515

in Figure 3 to be growing from right to left. I n
addition, the flame width is increasing gradually,
c~ is also increasing gradually, and, therefore,
the x- and y-spacing of the "cat's eyes" is in-
creasing in the direction of flow until a neutral
situation is reached.
At each x-station the disturbance will have a
local growth rate acl that acts over a short time,
say At. Then (since x is related to time by
dx = @dt) at any time t after the disturbance
originated at the flameholder, the amplitude will
maximum amplification rate and h~/hl for
neutral stability. These limiting values of h~/hl
are shown in Figure 5.
Owing to the fact that the disturbance v'
maximizes at the center of the duct and vanishes
at the wall, the neutral disturbance will undergo
an apparent decay as the flame approaches the
wall. Thus for any frequency the disturbance v'
at the flame front will have its maximum value
~ohl

be MO~ 68
LOB I0
v' = vo exp c~c~dt (11) W
, f0 ' GAtN, g 1,06 t4
I6
where v0 is the amplitude of the disturbance at
the flameholder on the eenterline of the profile.
1.04
218
I.OZ
Up to this point, the independent variables
have been the dimensionless wave number 2aht I:oo

and flame width h2/h~. I n order to evaluate ,I . . LO

h21h I
Equation (11), it is necessary to use the relation-
FIG. 4. Gain g as function of h j h l for a family

2E
ship of initial wave numbers 2~0hl . m/o~ = 7.
dz
- - = Cr (12)
dt
18
and some assumption concerning the variation
of h2/hl with z. Two simple assumptions were
16
FNEUTRAL
examined: 14Fi~ STABILITY
(1) Flame front is linear with x; (dh,./dz) = K1.
(2) Combustion efficiency is linear with x;
(dF/dz) = K s . 2aoh I I
The results of these two assumptions are sub-
stantially the same:
(1) The frequency that has the maximum am- ~" \ \ r"'x~Mu"
~PLIFICATION
plification, v'/vo', is independent of the rate or
mode of flame spreading and is approximately
f = Uo/2hl corresponding to a value of 2ceohl = 6.
(2) The magnitude of amplification is de- 0 .2 .4 .6 .8 ~.0
pendent upon the rate of flame spreading. For h2/h I
example: In the ease of the linear flame front FIG. 5. Frequencies that give maximum in-
the amplification v'/vo' = (1/g eh~/e~) where g is crease in local flame speed p~/p~ = 7.
a function of 2c~oh~ and h2/h~ and is given in
Figure 4. For the case of 2a0h~ = 6, (h:/h~) > somewhere between the two curves shown in
Figure 5.
0.65; (v'/vo) = 8 for (dh2/dz) = (1/20); (v'/v~) =
14,000 for (dh2/dz) = (1/100). Experimental
It can be seen that at values of 0 < (h2/hz) <
APPARATUS
0.65 the frequency of the disturbance that has
been amplified the most will be a function of Figure 6 shows a sketch of the two-dimensional
h2/hl. To put it another way, a given frequency test section employed. The combustible mixture
less than the one corresponding to 2c~0hi = 6 will of propane and air is metered by conventional
at some value of h2/h~ have a locally higher ampli- means and quieted in an 8-in. diameter plenmn
fication than all other frequencies. The locus of chamber, passing through 6 banks of 200-mesh
this maximum will be between the h2/ht for screens, then through a nozzle plate into the
516 INSTABILITY IN COMBUSTION CHAMBERS

rectangular test section that is either 1/~ by 2 Some of the flameholders employed are shown in
by 12 in. or 1 by 2 by 12 in. Figure 7.
The flame is anchored on a V-gutter flame- A probe was constructed that permitted a
holder which is supported by a hollow blade that photomultiplier tube to scan a 1/~-in. slit spanning
the test section. The distance from phototube to
test section was 2 ft.
The velocity profile entering the duct was flat
to within 1 per cent as near to the walls as a
1/~2-in. diameter probe permitted measurements.
Transition to turbulence occurred at a Reynolds
~SOUND number of 25,000, where the distance is meas-
ured in direction of flow from the plane of the
C::)COMBUSTJBLES
nozzle. Spectra measurements were made of the
~REGIOPN H O ~
HULTIPLIFRSCANS
turbulence at several stations and a scale L~
assigned, using the method employed by Mickel-
FIG. 6. Test section. sen and Lawrence, n and Roshko22 These meas-
urements are summarized in Table 1.
PROCEDURE

The disturbance amplitude was measured by

placing a hot-wire anemometer over the sound
port. The signal needed at the speaker to give the
required u ~ at the port was determined for the
various frequencies and flow velocities investi-
gated. The effect of the disturbances on the flame
FIG. 7. Flameholders. was recorded as an effect on the Sr/S~. ST/SL
is herein defined as the ratio of the rate of change
TABLE 1. TURBULENCE INTENSITY AND SCALE FOR
in combustion efficiency per unit length to the
SEVERAL POSITIONS AND FLOW VELOCITIES
rate of change that would occur if the flame fronts
Distance D ' " nce Vertical Turbu- were laminar. Two ways of sensing this quantity
Nominal from . lst%~n Distance lence S~e,
Velocity Nozzl e Irom
W a l ll o p t
~rom I t~ompo- were employed:
Lip, x ' y Station, z nent, u'
(I) Momentum pressure drop measurements
in. with the analytical results of Scurlock I give an
50 0 ~\* ~ 0.306 average ST/SL for the entire flame.
100 0 1/~ 1~ 0.420 (2) Radiation measurements made with a
photomultiplier probe give local ST/SL. t3
50 1.38 0.2 Two ways of calibrating the photomultiplier
50 1.68 probe were employed:
50 0.818 0.15 (I) The probe scanned a laminar flame in the
50 0.978 test section, fixing a voltage VL proportional to
50 ~1 1.021 0.15
SL.
50 3.35 0.17
(2) The probe scanned the test section at a
100 2.44
series of stations and an average voltage was ob-
* Measured from centerline. tained that is proportional to the fraction burned
t Measured from flameholder lip. as found by measuring the momentum pressure
drop.
extends upstream, through the plenum to a loud Then in both cases ST/SL = VT/VL where
speaker. Standing sound waves are excited in the VT and VL are the voltages indicated by the
hollow blade and the sound is permitted to issue photomultiplier probe for turbulent and laminar
through slots in the flameholder. Asymmetric flames. The calibration consists of finding the
disturbances are furnished by cutting the slots value of VL for a given f/a. Figure 8 shows the
in the blade just upstream of one edge of the comparisons of fraction burned (obtained from
gutter. Symmetric disturbances are furnished by momentum AP calculations) and average volt-
cutting the slots in the center of the flameholder. ages read from the photomultiplier probe.
 DISTURBANCE G R O W T H IN FLAME-GENERATED SHEAR REGION 517

From this data an average value of F/Vr for ent lag and the similarity between results of
each f/a is obtained. Then from theory and experiment is employed in Figure 14.
Here the value of gain g from Figure 4 is plotted
F 2ST X length )< depth
against frequency for three values of h~/ht, and
VT U0 X height X depth X VT
compared with Sr/SL obtained from Figure 12
(where length, height, and depth are dimensions
of the eombustor) a value of Sr/Vr is calculated. -oF T o
If we employ an S L value from the literature, .3 6 ~ - ~ x~" ~ - - - o ] 3.6
then VL can be calculated from V~ = (SL/Sr/
Vr). In Table 2 are tabulated values of flame
speed from Dugger's ~4SL, the value of VL calcu-
lated from the preceding relationship, and the
.32r- ~3.2
range of VL measured directly by viewing a pair / f/o" 0.0515 t
of laminar flames in the test section. FRACTION .28 I - ~ --]2.8 AVERAGE
BURNED, I /","~ ~ 0 ~ - ~ " ~ " ~ VOLTAGE
RESULTS
F .24~1 , , --]2.4.
.20 ~ ' ~ ' '2.0
The values of Sr/S~ obtained by the method
just discussed are compared with Scurlock's
Sr/SL values15 in Figure 9. The relatively high
values of Sr/Sc obtained in the present work are o

probably due to the relatively low value of ., 21- f , , . o . o , , ~ -1 ,.a

Sr/Uo employed. The slopes, with one excep-
tion, seem to agree. I , I I I l
0 400 BOO 1200 1600
A comparison of the flame appearance and f. CPS
S r/S L distribution with and without disturbances FIo. 8. Comparison Of fraction burned ob-
tained by momentum-pressure-drop measurement
is given in Figures 10a and 10b for two flame- with average voltage obtained by photomultiplier
holder sizes. The flame is seen to be turbulent survey. Velocity, 50 ft/sec; length, 6 in.; disturb-
before the introduction of the disturbances, and it ance velocity, 2.38 ft/sec; disturbance, antisym-
metric.
is distorted in a gross fashion by the disturbances.
Figure 11 shows the appearance of the flame when
T A B L E 2. COMPARISON OF P R E S S U R E - D R o P C A L I -
the approach flow was substantially turbulence- BRATION WITH CALIBRATION B Y D I R E C T
free, the boundary layer transition occurring V I E W I N G OF AN ALMOST LAMINAR
downstream of separation. The values of Sr/SL FLAME
varied but little from those shown for the smaller SL V L by Direct
flameholder in Figure 10a. The flame appearance f/a S LI4 VL ST/VT Measurement
also remains substantially unchanged. 0.0444 0.74 0.663 0. 658-0.682
0.0515 1.10 1.25 1.15-1.39
Effect of frequency of imposed disturbances 0.0580 1.32 1.862 --
Figure 12 shows the effects on Sr/SL of fre-
quency f and distance x at a typical condition. 5
U0,
If for these conditions we calculate the h~/h~that / FT/SEC /
corresponds to the values of x and find the range
of h2/h~ over which a particular frequency gives 4L ~..I~ iz /
the greatest Sr/S~, we may compare the results
with Figure 5 where the frequencies for maximum / OO.~.'ff"l] 2 IN. ~^
$1" IS L | , ~ ' F SECTION / / 50
amplification of v~ were given as functions of 'F,;ta=r
h2/h~. Such a comparison is made in Figure 13 I /, / 59" J' ~ S C U R L O C K (15.)
for several conditions. The data bands appear to I I/ t / -------PRESENT WORK
=~ n / t iN. SECTION
lie to the right of the theoretical bands, a fact
which can be interpreted as indicating a lag be- If/'~/ f I f I r I 1
tween the time the v' reaches its maximum value 0 2 4 6 8 I0 ~2 14
DISTANCE FROM FLAMEHOLDERo IN.
and the time Sr/SL reaches its maximum value.
FIG. 9. Comparison of ST/SL taken in ~ in. and
Another way of demonstrating both the appar- 1 in. wide ducts with Scurlock's data.
518 INSTABILITY IN COMBUSTION CHAMBERS

for two values of h2/hl. A similar plot was ob- Disturbance-phase velocities
tained for the 100-ft/sec condition which had a From a set of photographs, values of cr/U1
greater lag. were determined, using the mean flame width to

2.4 "

2.0

1,6

ST/S L 1.2

.41II o
.8 ~ FLAMEHOL:DER, u'
IN. FT/SEC
o.3o .38

O I 2 3 4 5 6
DISTANCE FROH FLAHEHOLDER, IN.
(a) Both flameholders without disturbance.

3.2--

28-
2.4

2.0
O,OER
ST'SL ~ 6 u570'
FT/SEC
1.2
V 0.306 2.16
.500 1.87
.8
V" .306 1.44
.4

1 I l t t I ,
0 I 2 .5 4 5 6
DISTANCE FROH FLAHEHOLDER. IN.
(b) Both flameholders with disturbance at 570 cps.
FIG. 10. Comparison of ST/Sz., and flame appearance for 0.500- and 0.306-in. flameholders. U,
50 ft/sec ; f/a, 0.0444.

Symmetric disturbances determine h2/hl. The quantity UI/Uo was then

Tests were made with flameholders that pro-
duced symmetric disturbances. The results when
compared with the antisymmetrie disturbance
under similar conditions indicated that:
(1) Near the flameholder the two types of dis-
turbances affected Sr/Sc similarly.
(2) Downstream of the flameholder, x > 3
inches, Sr/SL grew more rapidly for the anti-
symmetric disturbance.
determined from Tsien's results (Eq. (3)). Wave-
lengths were measured from trough to trough,
and the mean position of a pair of troughs located
the applicable value of h2/hl. The results for two
frequencies are shown (Fig. 15).
The dashed lines in Figure 15 are the values of
c~/U~ obtained from the stability analysis. The
scatter of the experimental data is quite bad, but
the magnitude and trends of the data remote
 DISTURBANCE GROWTH IN FLAME-GENERATED SHEAR REGION 519

from the flaincholder are quite good. Values of
c~/U~ less than unity are obtained for values of
h~/h~ < 0.15, implying flow reversal within this
region.
1. In what respects do the experimental results
and the interpretations of the stability analysis
agree? The areas of agreement are summarized
in Table 3.
The details of the system that would define

36
FLAME- SECTION f/a UO,
HOLDER DEPTH FT/SEC
|~ o 0.306 0.5 0,0496 I O0
- i~ ~ ~o8 ~ 0,;6, ~o
24 ..~ .50 .5 .0444 50

20

2aohl 16 . . . . . -t

~ UTRALSTABILITY
12 I-------,

I I I I ] I I
0 .I .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7
h2/h I
Fro. 13. Frequency giving maximum increase in
flame speed as function of h2/h~ compared with re-
sults of stability analysis.

1 . 1 2 ~ .

1.08
GAIN, g
FIG. 11. Flame shadowgraphs and direct photo- 1.04
graph of flame zone, with transition point down-
stream of point of separation. U, 50 ft/sec; f/a, 1.00
0.0484; u~urb,1. . . . . 0.303 ft/sec. lea) I I I 1 1 I 1 l
3.0 3.8

2.4 ~ ha/hi
2.5

ST'/SL 2.21.8 ~ 0 . 5 . 2 5

STI$ L 2.0
1.4
1.5 . f, CPS b~ l 1 I I I I I I
0 I 2 5 4
o 0 rz_.h
FREQUENCY, Uo
I.OI - / / 1 / P . / ~ 4oo
I I B'/,,o ~ 600 FIG. 14. Comparison of gain g, and ST/SL as
I I f// o ~55 functions of disturbance frequency. (a) Gain g for
I9'Y ,ooo
pi/p: = 7; (b) ST/SL for data of Fig. 12.

more exactly the shortcomings of the stability

0 2 [ 3 4 5 analysis as well as the adequacies await the de-
DISTANCE~-ROPFLAHEHOLDER. IN.
FIG. 12. Flame-speed distribution in 1 in. deep
test section. U = 50 ft/sec, f/a = 0.0496.
Discussion
In the following section some questions raised
by the analytical and experimental phases of the
investigation are briefly discussed.
velopment of a transient-velocity measuring
technique that can be used in a flame zone.
2. Would the same distribution of displacement
and ST/SL with distance from flamehoIder obtain
if no growth occurred in the flame zone? This seems
unlikely. For example: If the input disturbance
distribution simulates a source at the corner of
520 iNSTABILiTY IN COMBUSTION CHAMBERS

the flameholder, only near the flameholder would T A B L E 3. COMPARISON OF STABILITY ANALYSIS
there be a marked transverse velocity component. AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

This would mean that the highest frequencies

Interpretation of Stability Investigation of Sensitivity of a
would show the greatest increases in flame speed. Analysis of Scurlock's Flow Flame in a Duct to Transverse
Velocity Disturbance
3. Do eddies shed? They certainly seem to. I n
Figure 16 shadowgraphs and the direct photo- 1. The flow is stable to 1. The flame seems
graphs of a lean flame taken through the strobo- symmetric, unsta- about equally un-
scope are compared with a smoke-trace photo- ble to antisymmet - stable to symmetric
graph (16) of eddies shedding from a rod at Re ric disturbances and antisymmetric
of 73. The flame clearly has the necessary appear- disturbances near
ance for eddy shedding to be present. flameholder, is
~. Can the excitation at the flameholder permit more unstable to
increased combustion rates without destroying the antisymmetric dis-
turbances remote
burner walls? Yes. I n these tests the sound level
from flameholder

[.6 2. In moving along the 2. A disturbance of

flame at phase ve- given frequency
1.4 locity, a disturb- first grows, then
ance of given fre- decays. The criti-
quency grows until cal flame width
i.2 flame width be- where decay starts
~ S 2- ~ comes about 0.4 is slightly smaller
the wavelength, at than that predicted
C r / U ! [.0 which station an
apparent decay of

I .....
~lf v THEORY EXP. f,
.8 the disturbance
begins

3. There will be a most- 3. There is found a

amplified frequency most-amplified fre-
having a wave quency which, for
number 2aohl = the lengths inves-
6-+8 tigated, corres-
.I .2 .3 .4
ponds to a 2c~ohl
h21h l
FIG. 15. Propagation velocities forsmalI-ampli- 12
tude disturbances.
4. The phase velocity 4. The phase velocity
at the plane of exhaust was a benign 93 db with ranges from a ve- behaves much as
locity = cold-gas predicted save near
the flame excited. When the flame is excited by
velocity at flame- the flameholder,
the destructive duct resonance, the sound level
holder up to 1.5 where it is lower
is on the order of 200 db. cold-gas velocity than cold-gas ve-
I n order to apply this sort of excitation to an far from flame- locity
engine, the control exerted herein (a speaker holder
system) would not be needed. Instead, the dis-
turbance can be introduced by suitably placed 5. The amplification de- I 5. The amplification de-
whistles, mounted on the flameholder and driven pends upon v'/STo pends upon v'/Sro
by the flowing stream. The whistle ideally should for given dh2/dx for given dh2/dx
have a number of strong overtones and a funda-
mental equal to the most sensitive frequency 5. What would be the sacrifice in stability and
Uo/2h. The overtones would serve to increase pressure drop for such a device? Both these penal-
the heat-release rate near the flameholder, while ties require further investigation. The price
the fundamental would increase the heat-release would not seem high. For example: When the
rate remote from the flameholder. Another way, flameholder was placed 5/~ in. from the nozzle
not investigated here, would be to use wavey entrance and a 6-in. long test section installed,
walls in the combustor. lean blowout at 50 ft/sec occurred at a f/a of
 DISTURBANCE GROWTH IN FLAME-GENERATED
0.042. At a f/a of 0.0453, the disturbance ampli-
tudes required to cause blowout were found for
several frequencies. The results are shown in
Figure 17. Minimum disturbance velocity was
required at 780 cps. At this condition the flame-
holder without flame had an eddy-shedding
frequency of 420 cps. The Strouhal number is
FIG. 16. Comparison of photographs of excited
flame with an eddy trail.
2.8 h
2.4-- ~ 0
2.0--
u' !. 6
FT/SEC
1.2-
o
.B -
o o
.4 "------ BACKGROUND
$TROUHALFREQUENCY
l ff J I I I layer instability mentioned earlier. At present it
200 400 600 800 IOO0 1200
f, CPS
FIG. 17. Distribution with frequency of dis-
turbance velocities required to produce blowout
at a fixed velocity and fuel-air ratio. U0,50 ft/sec ;
0.306-in. flameholder placed 5~ in. from nozzle;
duct length, 5.7 in.; antisymmetric disturbances.
thus 0.206, agreeing well with the results of
Roshko. 1~ The duct resonance fundamental was
1000 cps cold. The reason for this result is not
known. The main point here, however, is to show
the effect of disturbances upon flamehotder
stability. I t was found that, at a f/a of 0.047, it
was impossible to induce blowout with speaker in-
puts as much as 10 times those used in the earlier
tests. At this writing it seems safe to say that the
imposed disturbances will narrow the stability
range slightly but not prohibitively, and the
SHEAR REGION 521
amount of narrowing will depend upon the fre-
quencies imposed.
An interesting observation was made in the
study of lean blowout. As the lean blowout f / a
was approached, the flame emitted a low-fre-
quency noise at 87 cps. The average heat-release
rate dropped abruptly. A survey taken with the
photomultiplier probe showed the flame to be
intermittently extinguished for all positions
greater than 7~ in. downstream of the flame-
holder. Random photographs taken at this con-
dition show intervals dm'ing which no flame is
present in the downstream part of the combustor.
This form of resonance accompanied by inter-
mittent blowoff (or flame parture) downstream
of the sheltered zone was the only form of excita-
tion that reduced the heat-release rate in the
combustor. On this basis it is tempting to general-
ize that all oscillations that do not cause flame
parture must increase the heat-release rate in
the combustor.
For the frequency of maximum amplification
(560 cps) as much as 30 per cent increase in heat
release was obtained in the 6-in. length combustor
for a sound energy input of about 0.2 per cent of
the kinetic energy of the flowing stream. In this
case the noise level at the exhaust was 93 db.
The penalty for use of wavey walls in a com-
bustor is unknown
Concluding Remarks
The form of instability that has been discussed
in this paper is of interest in formulating a theory
of turbulent flame propagation S along with the
plane combustion wave instability and boundary
is not known if the latter two forms of instability
can be encouraged to influence turbulent flame
propagation more than they do spontaneously.
The little evidence that we have makes it appear
that they can not. The type of instability that
has been discussed in the present paper is of addi-
tional interest for the reason that its effect on
S r/SL can be increased in some important
applications. The ways this increase is possible
lie in:
I .
1. Increasing the v0 m the frequency the flame
zone can amplify.
2. Increasing the amplification rate by locally
raising the velocity.
3. Increasing the amplification rate by locally
varying the velocity profile.
A means of employing all three of these ira-
522 INSTABILITY IN COMBUSTION CHAMBERS

proving factors would lie in building a combustor y coordinate at right angle to direc-
having one of its walls a wavey one. tion of mean flow, ft
(~ wave number of disturbance, ft -1
Nomenclature ao wave number of disturbance based
on initial velocity and frequency
a, A, B, C, D constants of integration f2~r/Uo
e complex phase velocity, ft/sec hot-gas velocity gradient (U -
c~ imaginary part of complex phase U1)/h~ , see -I
velocity "Y1 e -ahl
c, real part of complex phase velocity ")12 e -ah2
e Naperian base
F fraction burned 1+~
f frequency, cps
g gain, V I = Vto(g) 1/K
g' gain, v' = v~(g') lIE ), wave length, ft
hi duct half-width, ft
h2 flame half-width, ft REFERENCES
1. SCURLOCK, A. C.: Meteor Rep. 19, Fuels Res.
dh2 Lab., M.I.T., May 1948. (Contract NOrd
K1 constant = d-z- for an assumed
9661 .)
flame-spreading mechanism 2. MARKSTEIN, G. H. : A G A R D Selected Combus-
tion Problems, pp. 263-265. London, Butter-
dF worth, 1954.
K2 constant = - -
X 3. HADDOCK, G. W. : Prog. Rep. 3-24, Jet Prop.
d--
hl Lab., Cal. Inst. Tech., May 14, 1951.
4. ZUKOSKI, E. E., AND MARBLE, F. E.: Combus-
L~ Eulerian scale of ~urbulence, ft tion Res. Rev., 167-180 (1955).
5. LIN, C. C.: Quart. Appl. Math., 3, 117-142
n ~ + -~ (1945) ; 3, 218-234 (1945) ; 3, 277-301 (1946).
,~ ~ - ~1~ 6. PILLOW, A. F.: Rep. A. 35, Dec. Aero., Coun-
cil Sci. & Ind. Res. (Australia), May 1945.
P pressure, lb/sq ft 7. TSIEN, H. S.: Appl. Mech., 18, 188-194 (1951).
p' perturbation pressure, Ib/sq ft 8. BLACKSHEAR, P. L., JR.: Ph.D. Thesis, Case
Sr turbulent flame speed, ft/sec Inst. of Technology, June 1956.
SL laminar flame speed, ft/sec 9. GOLDSTEIN, S. : Proc. Roy. Soc. (London), 132,
t time, sec Ser. A., 524-547 (1931).
U flow velocity in x-direction, ft/see 10. RAYLEIGH : The Theory of Sound, Vol. II. New
U0 flow velocity in z-direction at plane York, Dover, 1945.
of flameholder 11. MICKELSEN, W. R . , AND LAURENCE, J. C . :
U1 flow velocity in x-direction in cold NACA RM E53F19, 1953.
gas, ft/sec 12. ROSHKO, A.: NACA Rep. 1191, 1954.
U* flow velocity in x-direction at apex 13. CLARK, T . P., AND BITTKER, D . A. : NACA RM
of hot-gas velocity profile, ft/sec E54F29, 1954.
~tt disturbance velocity in x-direction, 14. DUGGER, G. L.: NACA Rep. 1061, 1952.
ft/sec 15. SCURLOCK, A. C., AND GROVER, J. H.: A G A R D
Vt disturbance velocity in y-direction, Selected Combustion Problems, pp. 215-247.
ft/sec London, Butterworth, 1954.
X coordinate in direction of duct axis 16. GOLDSTEIN, S., Ed.: Modern Developments in
(direction of mean flow), ft Fluid Dynamics, Vols. I and II. Oxford,
f/a fuel: air ratio Clarendon, 1938.