3D Printing of Instantaneous Turbulent Flame Shapes, Experimentally Captured by 3D-Computer Tomography and Multi-Directional Schlieren Photography

Non-scanning 3D-CT(Computer Tomography) technique employing a multi-directional quantitative schlieren photographic system(top-left picture) with flash light source, has been performed to obtain instantaneous density distributions of high-speed turbulent flames(for reference, the target flame of 8 m/s exit velocity is indicated in the right-top picture). For simultaneous schlieren photography, the custom-made 20-directional schlieren camera was constructed and used. The target turbulent flame is high-speed flames, anchored on the burner of a nozzle exit of 4.2 mm diameter. The image set of 20 directional schlieren images are processed by MLEM CT-algorithm to obtain the 3D reconstruction of instantaneous density distribution. The solid models(bottom picture) of threshold density level of 0.7 kg/m³ are 3D-printed as 4 times large size for detail observations. The average exit velocity of the propane-air mixture of equivalence ratio of 1.1 is set to be 10, 8, 6 and 4 m/s (models from left to right in the bottom picture). The solid models show the complicated shape of the high speed turbulent flames. The flame structure of higher speed flame has fine scale corrugations. This corresponds to the “corrugated flamelets regime” of the Borghi & Peters diagram well.