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Cross-variable amplitude-frequency coupling during intermittency in a turbulent thermoacoustic system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2025

Shruti Tandon Open the ORCID record for Shruti Tandon [Opens in a new window] ,
Aswin Balaji Open the ORCID record for Aswin Balaji [Opens in a new window] ,
Rohit Radhakrishnan Open the ORCID record for Rohit Radhakrishnan [Opens in a new window] ,
Manikandan Raghunathan Open the ORCID record for Manikandan Raghunathan [Opens in a new window] ,
Gaurav Chopra Open the ORCID record for Gaurav Chopra [Opens in a new window]  and
R.I. Sujith Open the ORCID record for R.I. Sujith [Opens in a new window]
Shruti Tandon
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India Centre of Excellence for Studying Critical Transitions in Complex Systems, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India
Aswin Balaji
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India Centre of Excellence for Studying Critical Transitions in Complex Systems, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India
Rohit Radhakrishnan
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India Centre of Excellence for Studying Critical Transitions in Complex Systems, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India
Manikandan Raghunathan
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India Centre of Excellence for Studying Critical Transitions in Complex Systems, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India
Gaurav Chopra
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India Centre of Excellence for Studying Critical Transitions in Complex Systems, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India
R.I. Sujith*
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India Centre of Excellence for Studying Critical Transitions in Complex Systems, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

We investigate flame–acoustic interactions in a turbulent combustor during the state of intermittency before the onset of thermoacoustic instability using complex networks. Experiments are performed in a turbulent bluff-body stabilised dump combustor where the inlet airflow rate is varied quasi-statically and continuously. We construct a natural visibility graph from the local heat release rate fluctuations ($\dot {q}'$) at each location. Comparing the average degree during epochs of high- and low-amplitude acoustic pressure oscillations ($p'$) during the state of intermittency, we detect frequency modulation in $\dot {q}'$. Through this approach, we discover unique spatial patterns of cross-variable coupling between the frequency of $\dot {q}'$ and the amplitude of $p'$. The frequency of $\dot {q}'$ increases in regions of flame anchoring owing to high-frequency excitation of the flow and flame during epochs of high-amplitude $p'$ dynamics. However, the frequency of $\dot {q}'$ decreases in regions associated with flame-front distortions by large coherent vortices. In experiments with continuously varying airflow rates, the spatial pattern of frequency modulation varies with an increase in the average amplitude of $p'$ owing to an increase in the epochs of periodic $p'$ dynamics and the size of vortices forming in the flow. Dynamic shifts in the location of flame anchoring induce low-frequency fluctuations in $\dot {q}'$ during very-high-amplitude intermittent $p'$ dynamics. Our approach using conditional natural visibility graphs thus reveals the spatial pattern of amplitude-frequency coupling between the co-evolving flame and the acoustic field dynamics in turbulent reacting flows.

JFM classification

Reacting Flows: Turbulent reacting flows Turbulent Flows: Intermittency
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 1005 , 25 February 2025 , A11
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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