Investigation on flame dynamic characteristics to air-inlet excitation in a gas turbine model combustor

Abstract

The combustion characteristics for a gas turbine (GT) model combustor in air-inlet excitation are studied by Large Eddy Simulation (LES). Time series of heat release rate (HRR) fluctuation is captured during simulation. The precessing vortex core (PVC) structure is shown by pressure iso-surface, and the single/double helix branches of PVC alternately evolve in one forcing cycle. With the rotation of PVC, the high-speed ring zone (HSRZ) is periodically squeezed, and large-scale vortex roll-up results from that. The flame root structure is also significantly affected by PVC, which is one of the reasons for the HRR fluctuation. With the increase of the forcing amplitude, the flame response is divided into three parts. The linear growth zone and secondary rising zone are separated by saturation plateau. The flame dynamics analysis shows that the change of the flame structures and flame front oscillation modes are the apparent mechanism of the nonlinear flame response appearance.