Abstract
The basic principles associated with unsteady flames coupled by pressure waves are reviewed in this paper. The various modes of oscillations and sources of instability which may arise in a combustion system are briefly described, together with the Rayleigh criterion for heat-driven oscillations. The applicability of this criterion to explain situations of practical interest, such as a Rijke pipe and a pulse combustor, is discussed and its experimental verification is analysed. This is achieved on the basis of simultaneous measurements of the fluctuations of sound pressure level and of signatures of the rate of change of heat release, which confirm that the stability of the pulsating operation of practical combustors is obtained by releasing and removing energy during each cycle of operation.
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Fernandes, E.C., Heitor, M.V. (1996). Unsteady Flames and the Rayleigh Criterion. In: Culick, F., Heitor, M.V., Whitelaw, J.H. (eds) Unsteady Combustion. NATO ASI Series, vol 306. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1620-3_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1620-3_1
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