Vitaly Bychkov

Flame acceleration in channels with obstacles in the deflagration-to-detonation transition

It was demonstrated recently in Bychkov et al. [Bychkov et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 101 (2008) 164501], that the physical mechanism of flame acceleration in channels with obstacles is qualitatively different from the classical Shelkin mechanism. The new mechanism is much stronger, and is independent of the Reynolds number. The present study provides details of the theory and numerical modeling of the flame acceleration. It is shown theoretically and computationally that flame acceleration progresses noticeably faster in the axisymmetric cylindrical geometry as compared to the planar one, and that the acceleration rate reduces with increasing Mach number and thereby the gas compressibility. Furthermore, the velocity of the accelerating flame saturates to a constant value that is supersonic with respect to the wall. The saturation state can be correlated to the Chapman–Jouguet deflagration as well as the fast flames observed in experiments. The possibility of transition from deflagration-to-detonation in the obstructed channels is demonstrated.

Velocity of weakly turbulent flames of finite thickness

The velocity increase of a weakly turbulent flame of finite thickness is investigated using analytical theory developed in previous papers. The obtained velocity increase depends on the flow parameters: on the turbulent intensity, on the turbulent spectrum and on the characteristic length scale. It also depends on the thermal and chemical properties of the burning matter: thermal expansion, the Markstein number and the temperature dependence of transport coefficients. It is shown that the influence of the finite flame thickness is especially strong close to the resonance point, when the wavelength of the turbulent harmonic is equal to the cut off wavelength of the Darrieus–Landau instability. The velocity increase is almost independent of the Prandtl number. On the contrary, the Markstein number is one of the most important parameters controlling the velocity increase. The relative role of the external turbulence and the Darrieus–Landau instability for the velocity increase is studied for different parameters of the flow and the burning matter. The velocity increase for turbulent flames in methane and propane fuel mixtures is calculated for different values of the equivalence ratio. The present theoretical results are compared with previous experiments on turbulent flames. In order to perform the comparison, the theoretical results of the present paper are extrapolated to the case of a strongly corrugated flame front using the ideas of self-similar flame dynamics. The obtained theoretical results are in a reasonable agreement with the experimental data, taking into account the uncertainties of both the theory and the experiments. It is shown that in many experiments on turbulent flames the Darrieus–Landau instability is more important for the flame velocity than the external turbulence.

Turbulent flame and the darrieus–landau instability in a three-dimensional flow

The velocity of a weakly turbulent flame influenced by the Darrieus–Landau (DL) instability in a three-dimensional geometry is investigated on the basis of a model nonlinear equation. The equation takes into account realistically large thermal expansion of burning matter, external turbulence and thermal conduction related to small, but finite flame thickness. An external turbulent flow is imitated by a model obeying the Kolmogorov law. The effects of the DL instability and external turbulence are studied, first separately and then as they influence the flame dynamics together for different values of the turbulent intensity, different thermal expansion of the burning matter and different length scales of the hydrodynamic motion controlled by the width of a hypothetic tube with ideally adiabatic walls. The velocity increase obtained is in a good agreement with experimental results in the case of relatively weak turbulent intensity.

The Rayleigh–Taylor instability and internal waves in quantum plasmas

Influence of quantum effects on the internal waves and the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in plasma is investigated. It is shown that quantum pressure always stabilizes the RT instability. The problem is solved both in the limit of short-wavelength perturbations and exactly for density profiles with layers of exponential stratification. In the case of stable stratification, quantum pressure modifies the dispersion relation of the inertial waves. Because of the quantum effects, the internal waves may propagate in the transverse direction, which was impossible in the classical case. A specific form of pure quantum internal waves is obtained, which do not require any external gravitational field.

Speedup of doping fronts in organic semiconductors through plasma instability

The electrochemical doping transformation in organic semiconductor devices is studied in application to light-emitting cells. It is shown that the device performance can be significantly improved by utilizing new fundamental properties of the doping process. We obtain an instability, which distorts the doping fronts and increases the doping rate considerably. We explain the physical mechanism of the instability, develop theory, provide experimental evidence, and perform numerical simulations. We further show how improved device design can amplify the instability thus leading to a much faster doping process and device kinetics.

The Rayleigh-Taylor instability in quantum magnetized plasma with para- and ferromagnetic properties

We investigate influence of magnetic field on the Rayleigh–Taylor instability in quantum plasmas with para- and ferromagnetic properties. Magnetization of quantum plasma happens due to the collective electron spin behavior at low temperature and high plasma density. In the classical case, without magnetization, magnetic field tends to stabilize plasma perturbations with wave numbers parallel to the field and with sufficiently short wavelengths. Paramagnetic effects in quantum plasma make this stabilization weaker. The stabilization disappears completely for short wavelength perturbations in the ferromagnetic limit, when the magnetic field is produced by intrinsic plasma magnetization only. Still, for perturbations of long and moderate wavelength, certain stabilization always takes place due to the nonlinear character of quantum plasma magnetization.

Analysis of flame acceleration induced by wall friction in open tubes

Spontaneous flame acceleration leading to explosion triggering in open tubes/channels due to wall friction was analytically and computationally studied. It was first demonstrated that the acceleration is affected when the thermal expansion across the flame exceeds a critical value depending on the combustion configuration. For the axisymmetric flame propagation in cylindrical tubes with both ends open, a theory of the initial (exponential) stage of flame acceleration in the quasi-isobaric limit was developed and substantiated by extensive numerical simulation of the hydrodynamics and combustion with an Arrhenius reaction. The dynamics of the flame shape, velocity, and acceleration rate, as well as the velocity profile ahead and behind the flame, have been determined.

The Rayleigh?Taylor instability in inertial fusion, astrophysical plasma and flames

Previous results are reviewed and new results are presented on the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in inertial confined fusion, flames and supernovae including gravitational and thermonuclear explosion mechanisms. The instability couples micro-scale plasma effects to large-scale hydrodynamic phenomena. In inertial fusion the instability reduces target compression. In supernovae the instability produces large-scale convection, which determines the fate of the star. The instability is often accompanied by mass flux through the unstable interface, which may have either a stabilizing or a destabilizing influence. Destabilization happens due to the Darrieus-Landau instability of a deflagration front. Still, it is unclear whether the instabilities lead to well-organized large-scale structures (bubbles) or to relatively isotropic turbulence (mixing layer)

Gas Compression Moderates Flame Acceleration in Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition

The effect of gas compression at the developed stages of flame acceleration in smooth-wall and obstructed channels is studied. We demonstrate analytically that gas compression moderates the acceleration rate, and we perform numerical simulations within the problem of flame transition to detonation. It is shown that flame acceleration undergoes three distinctive stages: (1) initial exponential acceleration in the incompressible regime, (2) moderation of the acceleration process due to gas compression, so that the exponential acceleration state goes over to a much slower one, (3) eventual saturation to a steady (or statistically steady) high-speed deflagration velocity, which may be correlated with the Chapman–Jouguet deflagration speed. The possibility of deflagration-to-detonation transition is demonstrated.

Dynamics of bubbles in supernovae and turbulent vortices

We consider the motion of a bubble in a central acceleration field created by gravity or a centrifugal force. In the former case, the bubble moves outwards from and, in the latter, towards the center. We have calculated the characteristic time needed for a bubble to leave or reach the center. The solution obtained provides insight into the processes of thermonuclear supernovae and combustion; in other words, into the interaction between a flame and a turbulent vortex. In the case of combustion, a light bubble of burnt material propagates towards the axis of a strong turbulent vortex faster than it drifts in the direction of rotation of the vortex. It is expected that the development of bubbles should prevent the formation of “pockets” at the flame front, similar to those predicted by a simplified model of turbulent combustion in a constant density flux. In the case of a thermonuclear supernova in a deflagration burning regime, it is shown that light products of burning rise from the center of the white dwarf substantially more rapidly than the thermonuclear flame front propagates. As a result, a flame cannot completely burn the central part of the star, and instead is pushed to the outer layers of the white dwarf. The effect of bubble motion (large-scale convection) makes spherically symmetric models for thermonuclear supernovae unrealistic, which is of prime importance for the supernova spectrum and energy. The motion of bubbles is even faster in the case of a rotating white dwarf; under certain conditions, the centrifugal force may dominate over the gravitational force. To test this theory, we have carried out numerical simulations of supernovae explosions for various sizes of the burned region in the core of the presupernova. We have derived a relation between the rate of large-scale convection and the size of the burned region, which is specified by the rate of the deflagration in the thermonuclear burning.