A recently developed spectral model for premixed turbulent combustion in th
e flamelet regime (based on the EDQNM turbulence theory) has been compared
with both direct numerical simulations (DNS) and experimental data. The 128
(3) DNS is performed at a Reynolds number of 223 based on the integral leng
th scale. Good agreement is observed for both single- and two-point quantit
ies (i.e. ratio of the turbulent to laminar burning velocities, scalar auto
correlation. dissipation and scalar-velocity cross correlation spectral for
the two different values of u'/s(LO) considered. The model also predicts t
he rapid transient behaviour of the flame at early times. An experimental s
et-up is then described for generating a lean methane-ah flame and measurin
g two- point spatial correlations along the midpoint of the flame brush (i.
e. along the (C) over bar = 0.5 contour). The experimental measurements in
the flamelet regime take the form of a discontinuous or 'telegraph' signal.
The EDQNM model, in contrast, describes an 'ensemble' of flames, and thus
is based solely on continuous variables. A theoretical relationship between
the correlation obtained from the EDQNM model and the equivalent correlati
on for a discontinuous (experimental) flame is derived. The relationship is
used to enable a meaningful comparison between experimentally observed and
model correlations. In general, the agreement is good for the three differ
ent cases considered in this study, with most of the error occurring at the
lowest Reynolds number (Re-L = 22). Furthermore, it is shown that consider
ably more error would result if no attempt is made to convert the ensemble
representation in the model to an equivalent single-flame or 'telegraph' si
gnal.