The Reactive Rayleigh-Benard Problem

Faculty:  Chris Wahle

Summary:

The reactive Rayleigh-Benard problem involves flames interacting with the fluid field in which they exist.  The configuration consists of a flame front located within a channel formed by two horizontal plates with a combustible gaseous mixture injected through the upper plate and burned products removed through the lower plate.  The combustion process causes temperature variations across the channel, which induce Rayleigh-Benard convection rolls, which in turn, interact with the combustion process.  The system admits many solution types depending on parameter values.  There can be flat and cellular flames, as well as a variety of nonstationary cellular flames, with associated convection rolls.

Publications:

1. The Reactive Rayleigh-Benard Problem with Throughflow, A. Bayliss, T.-K. Ma, B.J. Matkowsky, and C.W. Wahle, SIAM Journal of Applied Mathematics, 2000, Vol. 61, No. 4, pp. 1103-1142.