WEAKLY STRETCHED PREMIXED FLAMES IN OSCILLATING FLOWS

The response of a premixed flame in stagnation-point flow with an impo sed oscillating strain rate;has been examined. This configuration is o f fundamental interest and has potential application to turbulent comb ustion modelling. Of interest are flames which stand well clear of the front stagnation point of a bluff body. Under these conditions the fl ame can be treated as a surface of density discontinuity. A detailed s olution is constructed in the burned and unburned gas regions and incl udes the flame response to the imposed fluctuations as well as the res ulting displacement of the incident flow. Our analysis accounts for th e full coupling between the flame and the underlying flow field and, u nlike most previous studies, is not restricted to small-amplitude osci llations.