The concept of a front plays a decisive role in various elds in physics and beyond. In the present thesis we study key aspects of front dynamics and stability in the context of laser plasmas, organic semiconductors and quantum media. In laser plasmas, we investigate the hydrodynamic instabilities developing at the fronts of laser deagration (ablation). Using direct numerical simulations, we nd noticeable velocity increase of the Rayleigh-Taylor bubble at a deagration front in comparison with that arising at an inert interface. We study the Darrieus-Landau instability of laser deagration accounting for the specific features of the fusion plasmas: strong temperature dependence of the thermal conduction and sonic velocities of the plasma flow. We find that these features of the laser plasmas make the Darrieus-Landau instability stronger by a factor of 3 in comparison with the well-known case of slow flames. We clarify the experimental conditions required for observations of the Darrieus-Landau instability in laser plasmas. In quantum plasmas, we study interplay of the classical and quantum eects for shock waves and for the pseudo-ferrouid instability. For shocks in quantum plasmas, we demonstrate transition from a monotonic Burgers classical shock structure to the train of oscillations (solitons) in the quantum limit. We obtain also a counterpart of the ferrouid instability in quantum magnetized plasmas due to collective spin-dynamics in an external magnetic eld. We discuss importance of the instability for thermonuclear explosions of white dwarfs in the Supernovae Ia events. In organic semiconductors, we develop the theoretical and numerical model of the electrochemical doping fronts. The study is based on the modifed mobilitydiffusion approach to the complex semiconductor plasmas consisting of holes, electrons, positive and negative ions. The m odel describes the doping front structure and predicts the front velocity in a very good agreement with the experiments. We discover a new fundamental instability, which distorts the doping fronts and speeds-up the process considerably. We demonstrate how the instability may be controlled and used to improve performance of optoelectronic devices. Finally, we study avalanches of spin-switching in crystals of nanomagnets, which may be described as magnetic deagration and detonation due to striking resemblance to the respective combustion phenomena. We find that magnetic deflagration becomes unstable and propagates in a pulsating regime when potential barrier of the spin-switching is sufficiently high in comparison with the energy release in the process. We also demonstrate the possibility of magnetic detonation in the crystals, which explains the astounding effect of ultra-fast spin-avalanches encountered in recent experiments. We find that magnetic detonation does not destroy the unique properties of the crystals, a very important conclusion in view of possible applications of nanomagnets in quantum computing. / Konceptet med en utbredningsfront spelar en avgörande roll inom många olika områden i fysik. I denna avhandling studeras centrala aspekter av utbredningsfronters dynamik och deras stabilitet i för laser-plasmaväxelverkan, organiska halvledare samt kvantmedier.  För laser-plasmaväxelverkan har vi undersökt de hydrodynamiska instabiliteter, som t ex Rayleigh-Taylor-instabiliteten, vilka utvecklas vid deflagrationsfronter (under så kallad laserablation). Med hjälp av direkta numeriska simuleringar har vi hittat en märkbar hastighetökning av Rayleigh-Taylor bubblan i en deaflgrationsfront jämfört med det som kan ses vid ett inert gränssnitt. Vi har även studerat Darrieus-Landau-instabiliteten vid laserdeflagration, speciellt hur denna påverkas av de specifika egenskaperna hos ett fusionsplasma: ett starkt temperaturberoende hos värmeledningen samt plasmaflödet som uppnår ljudhastighet. Vi har funnit att dessa egenskaper hos laser-plasmasystem gör Darrieus-Landau instabilitet starkare jämfört med det vanliga fallet av långsamma flammor. Vi har även klargjort de experimentella förutsättningar som krävs för observationer av Darrieus-Landau instabilitet i laser-plasmasystem.  Vi har studerat samspelet mellan klassiska och kvantmekaniska aspekter i kvantplasmor. Specifikt har vi undersökt chockvågors utbredning och dynamik samt instabiliteter i pseudo-ferrofluider. För chocker i kvantplasmor har vi visat att en övergång från Burgers klassiska monotona chockstruktur till ett vågtåg av solitoner sker i kvantgränsen. Vi för också en motsvarighet till ferrofluidinstabiliter i magnetiserade plasmor  på grund av dess kollektiva spinn-dynamik i ett yttre magnetfält. Vi har diskuterar instabilitetens roll för termonukleära explosioner hos vita dvärgar i supernovor av typ Ia.   I organiska halvledare har vi utvecklat en teoretisk och numerisk modell av elektrokemiska dopningsfronter. Studien är baserad på en modifierade drift-diffusiondmodell för komplexa dopade halvledare, vilka består av hål, elektroner, positiva och negativa joner. Modellen beskriver dopningsstrukturen och gör det möjligt att beräkna dopningsfrontens hastighet med värden som överensstämmer mycket väl med experimenten. Vi har även upptäckt en ny grundläggande instabilitet, vilket gör dopningsfronter anisotrop och snabbar upp processen betydligt. Vi visar hur instabilitet kan styras och användas för att förbättra optoelektronisk utrustning.   Slutligen studerar vi laviner av spin-växlingar i kristaller bestående av nanomagneter. Denna process kan beskrivas i termer av ett nytt analogt koncept, så kallad magnetiska deflagration och detonation, på grund av de slående likheter dessa har till motsvarande förbränningsfenomen. Vi har funnit att magnetiska deflagration blir instabil och propagerar i en pulserande regim när potentialbarriären för spin-växling är tillräckligt hög i jämförelse med frigörelsen av energi i processen. Vi visar också möjlighet till magnetisk detonation i dessa  kristaller, vilket förklarar de ultrasnabba spin-laviner man stött på under vid experiment helt nyligen. Denna magnetiska detonation förstör inte de unika egenskaperna hos kristallerna, en mycket viktig slutsats med tanke på möjliga tillämpningar av nanomagneter i kvantdatorer.

Flame propagation through a channel equipped with obstacles was studied experimentally. Two types of obstacle geometries were investigated, i.e., wall-mounted cross-flow cylinders and fence-type obstacles mounted on the top and bottom channel surfaces. The motivation for this research is its applications to both high-speed propulsion and industrial explosion safety. The effect of obstacle distribution and blockage ratio on flame acceleration was investigated in a 2.54cm x 7.6cm “narrow” channel with wall-mounted cross-flow cylindrical obstacles. The cylinders were arranged in a “staggered” or “inline” pattern, with blockage ratios of 0.5 and 0.67. Schlieren images were used to study the flame shape and its leading edge velocity for a range of fuel-air mixtures compositions. It was determined that initial flame propagation occurs faster in higher blockage ratios due to the higher frequency perturbation to the flow. Flame acceleration led to different quasi-steady flame and detonation propagation regimes. In general, higher final steady flame velocities were reached in the lower blockage ratios, and detonation limits were found to be influenced by the geometry. The influence of channel width on flame acceleration was also determined using fence-type obstacles with a single blockage ratio. Experiments were performed in a 2.54cm x 7.6cm and 7.6cm x 7.6cm channel. Schlieren images were again used to study the flame shape and to obtain leading edge velocity. The flame tip was found to have a parabolic profile across the channel width for the narrower channel and flatter profile in the wider channel. It was determined that the channel width has a weak effect on the flame velocity down the channel length. As such, flame acceleration was initially only slightly more pronounced in the narrow channel before the reverse became true later in the wide channel. / Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-07-18 21:13:40.436

The present work investigates the structure of supersonic turbulent deflagration typically observed as precursors to the onset of detonation. These high-speed flames are obtained after detonation interaction with cylindrical obstacles. Two mixtures having the same propensity for local hot spot generation were used, namely stoichiometric hydrogen-oxygen and methane-oxygen. It was shown that the methane mixture sustained turbulent fast flames, while the hydrogen mixture did not. Three visualization techniques, Schlieren, shadowgraph, and direct chemi-luminescence were implemented to record the evolution of the structure following the detonation interaction with the obstacle. Detailed high-speed visualizations of the nearly two-dimensional flow fields permitted the identification of the key mechanism involved. It was found that the shock reflections in methane permitted strong forward jets behind periodically formed Mach shocks on the front of the deflagration. These hot spots in the re-circulation zones of the jets provided local enhancement of the reactivity through mixing, supporting the formation of new generations of new hot spots. The hot spot formation was identified as the prominent difference between the different mixtures. These reactive pockets further sustained the shock reflection processes. As the methane-oxygen fast flame propagates along the channel, the wave front was observed to organize into fewer modes and eventually led to a reflection capable of the transition to detonation. In the hydrogen mixtures, at similar thermo-chemical parameters, self-sustained fast flames were not observed. Following detonation interaction in the hydrogen mixture, reactive reflections were observed. As the wave propagated downstream after a limited number of reactive reflections, the wave developed a planar wave front and decayed as the reaction zone trailed with an ever-increasing distance. It is postulated that the absence of the forward jets did not allow such fast flames to establish. This jetting slip line instability in methane shock reflections was recently found to be correlated with the low value of the isentropic exponent and its control of Mach shock jetting described by Mach & Radulescu. The lack of the forward jetting of the slip line in the hydrogen mixture with the higher value of the isentropic exponent is in agreement with the Mach & Radulescu.

This thesis by articles addresses the role played by Chapman-Jouguet (CJ) deflagrations in deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) events. By definition, CJ deflagrations are flames propagating with a sonic flow in the burned gases, and are theoretically the fastest subsonic combustion waves able to propagate steadily, predicted using conservation of mass, momentum and energy. DDT is difficult to describe, as many complex phenomena and their interaction take place, including flame instabilities, turbulent combustion, and combustion in compressible medium, among others. Recent experiments and numerical simulations however showed that, prior to transition to detonations, deflagrations plateau at the CJ regime before rapid acceleration. In the present thesis, multiple aspects of the last stages of DDT are studied, and are each presented in published articles or articles in preparation. The two articles presented in Chapter 2 focus on experiments performed on the transition of a shock-flame complex to a detonation downstream of a single obstacle, in a stoichiometric propane-oxygen mixture at low pressure, mimicking the common configuration found at the last stages of DDT in experiments and numerical simulations performed in a channel filled with obstacles. The relative large size of the obstacle and the low gas initial pressure permitted to visualize the details of the initiation of the detonation around the obstacle. Transition to detonation was found to occur in a similar fashion for variously shaped obstacles, after flame acceleration due to the interaction with reflected shocks. This acceleration process was found to occur rapidly in the case where the incident flame propagated with a burning rate close to the Chapman-Jouguet value. The third article presented in Chapter 3 describes a model aimed to predict the properties of shocks followed by a CJ deflagration, in experimental configurations where the burned gases can be vented. The formulation is similar to the double discontinuity problem adapted from the work of Chue (1993), extended to cases where the burned gases are not confined by a rear wall anymore, but can be vented through an opening of known dimensions. The properties of the shock / CJ-deflagration complex could then be predicted and compared to flame measurements done prior the initiation of detonations, obtained on a selection of large scale DDT experiments. The good agreement suggests that DDT occurs when deflagrations reach the CJ regime, corroborating with observations done in shock tubes. The article presented in Chapter 4 is aimed to present a consistent method for calculating the structure of flames propagating at arbitrary burning velocities, from the low-Mach case (isobaric) up to the CJ deflagration regime. The method uses a dynamical system approach to calculate the steady wave structure, described by ordinary differential equations. A stability analysis near the burned and unburned gases permitted to develop a numerical shooting technique, which was used to obtain the flame structure and burning rate eigenvalue. Chapter 5 is a numerical study of the deflagration to detonation transition problem in one-dimension. By linearly increasing the burning rate eigenvalue to increase the flame burning velocity, the flame first reached the CJ condition. Subsequent increase in the burning rate leads to the self-organization of the flame into a CJ deflagration - shock complex. This self-organization triggers a pulsating gasdynamic instability leading to the transition of the flame to detonation.

This thesis is concerned with experimental and computational studies on pulse detonation engine (PDE) that has been envisioned as a new concept engine. These engines use the high pressure generated by detonation wave for propulsion. The cycle efficiency of PDE is either higher in comparison to conventional jet engines or at least has similar high performance with much greater simplicity in terms of components. The first part of the work consists of an experimental study of the performance of PDE under choked flame and partial fill conditions. Detonations used in classical PDEs create conditions of Mach numbers of 4-6 and choked flames create conditions in which flame achieves Mach numbers near-half of detonation wave. While classical concepts on PDE's utilize deflagration-to-detonation transition and are more intensively studied, the working of PDE under choked regime has received inadequate attention in the literature and much remains to be explored. Most of the earlier studies claim transition to detonation as success in the working of the PDE and non-transition as failure. After exploring both these regimes, the current work brings out that impulse obtained from the wave traveling near the choked flame velocity conditions is comparable to detonation regime. This is consistent with the understanding from the literature that CJ detonation may not be the optimum condition for maximum specific impulse. The present study examines the details of working of PDE close to the choked regime for different experimental conditions, in comparison with other aspects of PDEs. The study also examines transmission of fast flames from small diameter pipe into larger ducts. This approach in the smaller pipe for flame acceleration also leading to decrease in the time and length of transition process. The second part of the study aims at elucidating the features of deflagration-to-detonation transition with direct numerical simulation (DNS) accounting for and the choice of full chemistry and DNS is based on two features: (a) the induction time estimation at the conditions of varying high pressure and temperature behind the shock can only be obtained through the use of full chemistry, and (b) the complex effects of fine scale of turbulence that have sometimes been argued to influence the acceleration phase in the DDT cannot be captured otherwise. Turbulence in the early stages causes flame wrinkling and helps flame acceleration process. The study of flame propagation showed that the wrinkling of flame has major effect on the final transition phase as flame accelerates through the channel. Further, flame becomes corrugated prior to transition. This feature was investigated using non-uniform initial conditions. Under these conditions the pressure waves emanating from corrugated flame interact with the shock moving ahead and transition occurs in between the flame and the forward propagating shock wave. The primary contributions of this thesis are: (a) Elucidating the phenomenology of choked flames, demonstrating that under partial fill conditions, the specific impulse can be superior to detonations and hence, allowing for the possibility of choked flames as a more appropriate choice for propulsive purposes instead of full detonations, (b) The use of smaller tube to enhance the flame acceleration and transition to detonation. The comparison with earlier experiments clearly shows the enhancements achieved using this method, and (c) The importance of the interaction between pressure waves emanating from the flame front with the shock wave which leads to formation of hot spots finally transitioning to detonation wave.

The thesis addresses the influence of compressible effects on the stability of deflagration waves. Due to the quasi-isobaric nature of slow flames, compressible effects in laminar flames are usually neglected. Nevertheless, turbulent deflagrations may propagate at substantially higher speeds, suggesting that compressible effects may play a role in their dynamics. In the present thesis, the stability of diffusion-dominated high-speed deflagrations is addressed. The deflagration is studied in the thickened regime, hence addressing the long wavelength limit of these deflagrations. The deflagrations are modelled by the compressible reactive Navier-Stokes equations with a single-step Arrhenius reaction model. The 2D stability of the steady traveling-wave solution is studied by direct simulation. It is found that, as the flame compressibility becomes significant, not only does the growth rates of the cellular profile of the deflagration waves increase, but the traditional correlation of the burning velocity and the flame surface area become far less strong. Significant compression regions form in front of the nonlinear flames. These compression regions have been found to increase the growth rates by increasing the temperature of the unburned gas in front of the flames, as well as convecting the flame forward. The results show that the flame propagation velocity in references to the unburned gas was significantly faster than the burning velocity. The vorticity was given consideration, as the compressibility of flame increase one can expect the baroclinic source to be of greater significance. The vorticity was show to, in effect, increase as compressibility increases while unexpectedly having a stabilizing direction of rotation on the cellular structure of the flames.

Various premixed flame phenomena are studied by means of direct numerical simulations of the complete system of hydrodynamic equations. Rigorous study of flame dynamics is essential for all premixed combustion problems where multidimensional effects cannot be disregarded.The present thesis consists of six parts. The first part deals with the fundamental problem of curved stationary flames propagation in free-slip tubes of different widths. It is shown that only simple "single-hump" slanted stationary flames are possible in tubes wider than some stability limit. The flame dynamics is shown to be governed by a large-scale stability mechanism resulting in a highly slanted flame front.The second part of the thesis is dedicated to studies of acceleration and fractal structure of outward freely propagating flames. It is shown that the development of Landau-Darrieus instability results in the formation of fractal-like flame front structure. Two-dimensional simulation of radially expanding flames displays a radial growth with 1.25 power law temporal behavior. It is shown that the fractal excess for 2D geometry obtained in thenumerical simulation is in good agreement with theoretical predictions.In third part the flame acceleration in tubes with non-slip at the walls is studied in the extremely wide range of flame front velocity. Flame accelerates from small initial velocity to supersonic speed in the laboratory reference frame. Flame acceleration undergoes three stages: 1) initial exponential acceleration in the quasi-isobaric regime, 2) almost linear increase of the flame speed to supersonic values, 3) saturation to a stationary high-speed deflagration velocity, which is correlated with the Chapman-Jouguet deflagration speed. The saturation velocity is in line with previous experimental results.In fourth part the role of viscous stress in heating of the fuel mixture in deflagration-to-detonation transition in tubes is studied both analytically and numerically. The developed analytical theory determines temperature distribution ahead of an accelerating flame. The heating effects of viscous stress and the compression wave become comparable at sufficiently high values of the Mach number. Viscous stress makes heating and explosion of the fuel mixture preferential at the walls.In fifth part we reveal the physical mechanism of ultra-fast flame acceleration in obstructed channels used in modern experiments on detonation triggering. It is demonstrated that delayed burning between the obstacles creates a powerful jet-flow, driving the acceleration. The flame front accelerates exponentially; theanalytical formula for the growth rate is obtained. The theory is validated by extensive direct numerical simulations and comparison to previous experiments.The last part of the thesis concerns the transition from deflagration to detonation. It is found that in sufficiently wide free-slip channels and for sufficiently fast flames Landau-Darrieus instability may invoke nucleation of hot spots within the wrinkled flame folds, triggering an abrupt transition from deflagrative to detonative combustion. Results on DDT in channels with non-slip at the walls are also presented. / QC 20100915

Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2005--Berlin.

abstract: The study of deflagration to detonation transition (DDT) in explosives is of prime importance with regards to insensitive munitions (IM). Critical damage owing to thermal or shock stimuli could translate to significant loss of life and material. The present study models detonation and deflagration of a commonly used granular explosive: cyclotetramethylene-tetranitramine, HMX. A robust literature review is followed by computational modeling of gas gun and DDT tube test data using the Sandia National Lab three-dimensional multi-material Eulerian hydrocode CTH. This dissertation proposes new computational practices and models that aid in predicting shock stimulus IM response. CTH was first used to model experimental data sets of DDT tubes from both Naval Surface Weapons Center and Los Alamos National Laboratory which were initiated by pyrogenic material and a piston, respectively. Analytical verification was performed, where possible, for detonation via empirical based equations at the Chapman Jouguet state with errors below 2.1%, and deflagration via pressure dependent burn rate equations. CTH simulations include inert, history variable reactive burn and Arrhenius models. The results are in excellent agreement with published HMX detonation velocities. Novel additions include accurate simulation of the pyrogenic material BKNO3 and the inclusion of porosity in energetic materials. The treatment of compaction is especially important in modeling precursory hotspots, caused by hydrodynamic collapse of void regions or grain interactions, prior to DDT of granular explosives. The CTH compaction model of HMX was verified within 11% error via a five pronged validation approach using gas gun data and employed use of a newly generated set of P-α parameters for granular HMX in a Mie-Gruneisen Equation of State. Next, the additions of compaction were extended to a volumetric surface burning model of HMX and compare well to a set of empirical burn rates. Lastly, the compendium of detonation and deflagration models was applied to the aforementioned DDT tubes and demonstrate working functionalities of all models, albeit at the expense of significant computational resources. A robust hydrocode methodology is proposed to make use of the deflagration, compaction and detonation models as a means to predict IM response to shock stimulus of granular explosive materials. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Aerospace Engineering 2015

Mining, process and energy industries suffer from billions of dollars of worldwide losses every year due to Vapour Cloud Explosions (VCE). Moreover, explosion accidents are often tragic and lead to a high number of severe injuries and fatalities. The VCE scenario is complex and controlled by various mechanisms. The interplay among them is still not entirely understood. Understanding all these intricate processes is of vital importance and requires detailed experimental diagnostics. Coupling accurate numerical simulations to well documented experiments can allow an elaborate description of these phenomena. This thesis focuses on explosions occurring on configurations that are either semi-confined or confined. In such configurations, the explosion is generally initiated by a mild ignition and a subsonic flame front emerges from the ignition source. An important feature of self-propagating flames lies in their intrinsically unstable nature. When they propagate in an environment with high levels of confinement and congestion, which is the case in most industrial sites, a Flame Acceleration (FA) process is often observed that can give rise to very fast flames, known for their destructive potential. In some cases, the FA process can create the appropriate conditions for the initiation of detonations, which corresponds to a rapid escalation of the explosion hazard. To reproduce the confinement and congestion conditions that one can find in industrial sites, the university of Munich TUM equipped a confined chamber with a series of obstacles and analysed the influence of repeated obstructions on the propagation of hydrogen/air deflagrations. This experimental study showed a strong influence of the mixture composition on the acceleration process. A Deflagration to Detonation Transition (DDT) has also been observed for a certain range of equivalence ratio. This configuration is therefore ideal to study the mechanisms of flame acceleration as well as the intricate DDT process. A numerical study of both scenarios is performed in this thesis: -First for a lean premixed hydrogen/air mixture, a strong flame acceleration is observed experimentally without DDT. The characteristic features of the explosion are well reproduced numerically using a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approach. The crucial importance of confinement and repeated flame-obstacle interactions in producing very fast deflagrations is highlighted. -DDT is observed experimentally for a stoichiometric hydrogen/air mixture. This thesis focuses on the instants surrounding the DDT event, using Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS). Particular attention is drawn to the impact of the chemistry modelling on the detonation scenario. The failure of preventive measures is often observed in many explosion accidents. To avoid a rapid escalation of the explosion scenario, mitigative procedures must be triggered when a gas leak or an ignition is detected. Metal salts (like potassium bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate) have received considerable attention recently because well-controlled experiments showed their high efficiency in inhibiting fires. The last part of the thesis focused on the mechanism of flame inhibition by sodium bicarbonate particles. First, criteria based on the particle sizes are established to characterize the inhibition efficiency of the particles. Second, two dimensional numerical simulations of a planar flame propagating in a stratified layer of very fine sodium bicarbonate particles showed that under certain conditions these powders can act as combustion enhancers. These results echo a number of experimental observations on the possible counter-effects of the inhibitors.