![]() Premixed flames provide a unique experimental setting for studying the dynamics of pattern formation. The hotter regions appear as cells and the darker, cooler regions separating the cells appear as cusps and folds. The system has hundreds of states ranging from highly ordered patterns to intermittent and chaotic.
Ordered states,
consisting of concentric rings of approximately equal-size cells,
are observed over a wide range of parameters in the
experiments using heavy hydrocarbon-air mixtures on a circular
porous plug burner at low pressure.
Rotating states are
traveling waves this translationally invariant system. The origin
of these states is well-understood, and similar
have been observed in a number of fluid systems.
Hopping states are typically
observed in isobutane-air cellular flames at parameter values
between those corresponding to two consecutive ordered states.
These states are characterized by a hopping motion in which
individual cells abruptly change their angular position.
Intermittent states are
observed whenever an ordered pattern appears at irregular intervals of time.
Two types of intermittent states have been observed
in the experiments: heteroclinic connections and the unstable 2-cell state.
Disordered states
are observed at high flow rates. These states
have no discernible ring structure.
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