Four Types of Chaotic Dynamics
in Cellular Flames
M. Gorman (gorman@uh.edu),
M. el-Hamdi
(el-hamdi@uhphys.phys.uh.edu)
Department of Physics
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-5506
Kay A. Robbins (krobbins@runner.utsa.edu)
Division of Computer Science
The University of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas 78249
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.
