On flame extinction by a spatially periodic shear flow

It is shown that the adiabatic high Lewis number premixed gas flame spreadi ng through a large-scale zero-mean time-independent periodic sheer low cons titutes a bistable system with a hysteretic transition between stable propa gation modes. A mildly non-adiabatic dame may be quenched provided the flow -field intensity exceeds a certain critical value. The study is motivated b y the experimentally known phenomenon of flame extinction by turbulence.