Four Types of Chaotic Dynamics in Cellular Flames

ABSTRACT

Markstein, in his seminal study of cellular flames, divided the dynamics of one-dimensional cellular flames into two classes: steady and unsteady. In this paper we report four distinct types of chaotic motion of cellular flames on circular porous plug burners: ordered states in which cells arranged in concentric rings execute small amplitude chaotic oscillations; disordered states in which the ring structure is broken and cells of unequal size and shape move around in an irregular manner; intermittently ordered states in which, for most of the time, there is a highly irregular cellular structure which abruptly evolves into ordered states of concentric rings lasting for varying lengths of time; and pulsating-cellular states in which an ordered state of cellular flames interacts with the radial mode of pulsating flames. These four types of chaotic cellular flames fill the explored parameter space. The spatial and temporal characteristics of each of these modes are described, and these results are compared with other experiments on cellular flames and relevant theoretical studies.