On the mechanism of "tulip flame" formation: the effect of ignition sources

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution simulations to uncover the physical mechanisms behind tulip flame formation in hydrogen-air flames, highlighting the roles of velocity profiles, pressure waves, and wall friction depending on ignition method and tube ends.

Contribution

It provides a detailed physical explanation of tulip flame formation mechanisms for different ignition sources and boundary conditions using numerical simulations.

Findings

Tulip flames form due to axial velocity profiles caused by rarefaction waves.

Pressure wave reflections induce deceleration and tulip formation in closed tubes.

Wall friction leads to flame front bulging and tulip shape when ignited at the open end.

Abstract

The early stages of hydrogen-air flame dynamics and the physical mechanism of tulip flame formation were studied using high-resolution numerical simulations to solve the two-dimensional fully compressible Navier-Stokes equations coupled with a one-step chemical model, which was calibrated to obtain the correct the laminar flame velocity-pressure dependence. The formation of tulip flames was investigated for a flame ignited by a spark or by a planar ignition and propagating to the opposite closed or open end. For a flame ignited by a spark on-axis at the closed end of the tube and propagating to the opposite closed or open end, a tulip flame is created by a tulip-shaped axial velocity profile in the unburned gas flow near the flame front caused by the rarefaction wave(s) created by the flame during the deceleration stage(s). It is shown that, in a tube with both closed ends, this mechanism of tulip flame formation also holds for flames initiated by planar ignition. The deceleration stages in the case of planar ignition are caused by collisions of the flame front with pressure waves reflected from the opposite end of the tube. In the case of a flame initiated by planar ignition and propagating toward the open end, the mechanism of tulip flame formation is related to the stretching of the flame skirt edges backward along the side wall of the tube due to wall friction, which leads to the formation of bulges in the flame front near the tube walls. The bulges grow and finally meet at the axis of the tube, forming a tulip-shaped flame. Regardless of the method of flame initiation at the closed end, no distorted tulip flame is formed when the flame propagates to the open end of the tube.