ABSOLUTE CONVECTIVE INSTABILITIES AND THEIR ASSOCIATED WAVE-PACKETS IN A COMPRESSIBLE REACTING MIXING LAYER

In this paper the transition from convective to absolute instability in a reacting compressible mixing layer with finite rate chemistry is examined. The reaction is assumed to be one step, irreversible, and of Arrhenius type. It is shown that absolute instability can exist for moderate heat release without backflow. The effects of the temperature ratio, heat release parameter, Zeldovich number, equivalence ratio, direction of propagation of the disturbances, and the Mach number on the transition value of the velocity ratio are given. The present results are compared to those obtained from the flame sheet model for the temperature using the Lock similarity solution for the velocity profile. Finally, the structure of the wave packets produced by an impulse in the absolutely unstable flow is examined.