Response of Confined Mesoscale Flames to Acoustic Forcing

Abstract

Mesoscale combustion plays a vital role in applications ranging from portable power generation to micro-propulsion systems. This study investigates the response of mesoscale flames to upstream acoustic forcing across three characteristic flame regimes: Flames with Repetitive Extinction and Ignition (FREI), Stable Flames (SF), and Propagating Flames (PF). Acoustic forcing is applied over a broad range of pressure intensities at the first harmonic of the combustor tube. At low forcing intensities, all the flame regimes exhibit oscillations at the forcing frequency without qualitative changes in their respective flame behaviours. However, as the acoustic pressure increases, all flame regimes transition to a common unsteady regime characterised by periodic ignition-extinction cycles (resembling FREI) alongside strong oscillations at the forcing frequency. This response is identified as the oscillating FREI (O-FREI) regime, in which increasing forcing intensity leads to a reduction in the mean heat release rate, an amplification of oscillations at the forcing frequency, and a drop in the Strouhal number associated with the ignition-extinction cycle. The response characteristics across all flame regimes are examined in detail and are further complemented using reduced-order mathematical models.