arXiv subjects

R. I. Sujith

Publications and source records attributed to R. I. Sujith.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Coupled thermoacoustic interactions in hydrogen enriched lean combustion

In this paper, we present a framework to study the synchronization of flow velocity with acoustic pressure and heat-release rate in technically-premixed swirl flames. The framework uses the extended proper orthogonal decomposition to identify regions of the velocity field where velocity and heat release fluctuations are highly correlated. We apply this framework to study coupled interactions associated with period-1 and period-2 type thermoacoustic instability in a technically-premixed, swirl stabilized gas turbine model combustor operated with hydrogen-enriched natural gas. We find the structures in flame surface and heat release rate that are correlated to the dominant coherent structures of the flow field using extended POD. We observe that the correlated structures in the flow velocity, flame surface and heat release rate fields share the same spatial regions during thermoacoustic instability with period-1 oscillations. In the case of period-2 oscillations, the structures from flame surface and heat release rate field are strongly correlated. However, these structures contribute less to the coherent structures of the flow field. Using the temporal coefficients of the dominant POD modes of the flow velocity field, we also observed 1:1 and 2:1 frequency locking behaviour among the time series of acoustic pressure, heat release rate and the temporal coefficients of the first two dominating POD modes of velocity field during the state of period-1 and period-2 oscillations, respectively. These frequency-locked states, which indicate the underlying phase-synchronization states, are then correlated with coherent structures in the flow velocity field.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2023

Mitigation of limit cycle oscillations in a turbulent thermoacoustic system via delayed acoustic self-feedback

We report the occurrence of amplitude death (AD) of limit cycle oscillations in a bluff body stabilized turbulent combustor through delayed acoustic self-feedback. Such feedback control is achieved by coupling the acoustic field of the combustor to itself through a single coupling tube attached near the anti-node position of the acoustic standing wave. We observe that the amplitude and dominant frequency of the limit cycle oscillations gradually decrease as the length of the coupling tube is increased. Complete suppression (AD) of these oscillations is observed when the length of the coupling tube is nearly 3/8 times the wavelength of the fundamental acoustic mode of the combustor. Meanwhile, as we approach this state of amplitude death, the dynamical behavior of acoustic pressure changes from the state of limit cycle oscillations to low-amplitude chaotic oscillations via intermittency. We also study the change in the nature of the coupling between the unsteady flame dynamics and the acoustic field as the length of the coupling tube is increased. We find that the temporal synchrony between these oscillations changes from the state of synchronized periodicity to desynchronized aperiodicity through intermittent synchronization. Furthermore, we reveal that the application of delayed acoustic self-feedback with optimum feedback parameters completely disrupts the positive feedback loop between hydrodynamic, acoustic, and heat release rate fluctuations present in the combustor during thermoacoustic instability, thus mitigating instability. We anticipate this method to be a viable and cost-effective option to mitigate thermoacoustic oscillations in turbulent combustion systems used in practical propulsion and power systems.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2022

Mean-field synchronization model for open-loop, swirl controlled thermoacoustic system

Open-loop control is known to be an effective strategy for controlling self-excited thermoacoustic oscillations in turbulent combustors. In this study, we investigate the suppression of thermoacoustic instability in a lean premixed, laboratory-scale combustor using experiments and analysis. Starting with a self-excited thermoacoustic instability in the combustor, we find that a progressive increase in the swirler rotation rate transitions the system from thermoacoustic instability to the suppressed state through a state of intermittency. To model such transition while also quantifying the underlying synchronization characteristics, we extend the model of Dutta et al. [Phys. Rev. E 99, 032215 (2019)] by introducing a feedback between the ensemble of mean-field phase oscillators and the basis expansion of the acoustic pressure governing equation. The assumption that coupling strength among the oscillators is a linear combination of acoustic and swirler rotation frequency is justified \textit{a posteriori}. The link between the model and experimental results is quantitatively established by implementing an optimization algorithm for model parameter estimation. We show that the model replicates the bifurcation characteristics, time series, probability density function (PDF), and power spectral density (PSD) of the various dynamical states observed during the transition to the suppressed state, to excellent accuracy. Specifically, the model captures the change in the PDF of pressure and heat release rate fluctuations from a bimodal distribution during thermoacoustic instability to a unimodal distribution during suppression. Finally, we discuss the global and local flame dynamics and show that the model qualitatively captures various aspects of spatio-temporal synchronization that underlies the transition.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2022

Occasional coupling enhances amplitude death in delay-coupled oscillators

This paper aims to study amplitude death in time delay coupled oscillators using the occasional coupling scheme that implies the intermittent interaction among the oscillators. An enhancement of amplitude death regions (i.e., an increment of the width of the amplitude death regions along the control parameter axis) can be possible using the occasional coupling in a pair of delay-coupled oscillators. Our study starts with coupled limit cycle oscillators (Stuart-Landau) and coupled chaotic oscillators (Rössler). We further examine coupled horizontal Rijke tubes, a prototypical model of thermoacoustic systems. Oscillatory states are highly detrimental to thermoacoustic systems such as combustors. Consequently, a state of amplitude death is always preferred. We employ the on-off coupling (i.e., a square wave function), as an occasional coupling scheme, to these coupled oscillators. On monotonically varying the coupling strength (as a control parameter), we observe an enhancement of amplitude death regions using the occasional coupling scheme compared to the continuous coupling scheme. In order to study the contribution of the occasional coupling scheme, we perform a detailed linear stability analysis and analytically explain this enhancement of the amplitude death region for coupled limit cycle oscillators. We also adopt the frequency ratio of the oscillators and the time delay between the oscillators as the control parameters. Intriguingly, we obtain a similar enhancement of the amplitude death regions using frequency ratio and time delay as the control parameters in the presence of the occasional coupling. Finally, we use a half-wave rectified sinusoidal wave function (motivated by practical reality) to introduce the occasional coupling in time-delay coupled oscillators and get similar results.

nlin.AO↗

arXiv2022

Tipping in complex systems under fast variations of parameters

Sudden transitions in the state of a system are often undesirable in natural and human-made systems. Such transitions under fast variation of system parameters are called rate-induced tipping. We experimentally demonstrate rate-induced tipping in a real-world complex system and decipher its mechanism. There is a critical rate of change of parameter above which the system undergoes tipping. We show that another system parameter, not under our control, changes simultaneously at a different rate, and the competition between the effects of that parameter and the control parameter determines if and when tipping occurs. Motivated by the experiments, we use a nonlinear oscillator model exhibiting Hopf bifurcation to generalize this tipping to complex systems in which slow and fast parameters compete to determine the system dynamics.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2022

Synchronization based model for turbulent thermoacoustic systems

We present a phenomenological reduced-order model to capture the transition to thermoacoustic instability in turbulent combustors. The model is based on the framework of synchronization and considers the acoustic field and the unsteady heat release rate from turbulent reactive flow as two nonlinearly coupled sub-systems. Previous experimental studies have reported a route from low amplitude chaotic oscillation (i. e. combustion noise) to periodic oscillations through intermittency in turbulent combustors. By varying the coupling strength, our proposed model can replicate the route that is observed in experiments. Instead of assessing combustion noise as background noise to the system, the model considered a coupled oscillator system that produces multifractal chaotic oscillations to represent the combustion noise. This set of coupled oscillators is then nonlinearly coupled to a linear oscillator representing the acoustic field. As the coupling strength increases, the system loses its multifractality and exhibits large-amplitude periodic oscillations in a manner consistent with the dynamics observed in experimental studies.

nlin.AO↗

arXiv2022

Study of Interaction and Complete Merging of Binary Cyclones Using Complex Networks

Cyclones are amongst the most hazardous extreme weather events on Earth. When two co-rotating cyclones come in close proximity, a possibility of complete merger (CM) arises due to their interactions. However, identifying the transitions in the interaction of binary cyclones and predicting the merger is challenging for weather forecasters. In the present study, we suggest an innovative approach to understand the evolving vortical interactions between the cyclones during two such CM events using time-evolving induced velocity based unweighted directed networks. We find that network-based indicators, namely, in-degree and out-degree, can quantify the changes during the interaction between two cyclones and are better candidates than the traditionally used separation distance to classify the interaction stages before a CM. The network indicators also help to identify the dominating cyclone during the period of interaction and quantify the variation of the strength of the dominating and merged cyclones. Finally, we show that the network measures also provide an early indication of the CM event well before its occurrence.

physics.geo-ph↗

arXiv2022

Imprints of log-periodicity in thermoacoustic systems close to lean blowout

In the context of statistical physics, critical phenomena are accompanied by power laws having a singularity at the critical point where a sudden change in the state of the system occurs. In this work, we show that lean blowout (LBO) in a turbulent thermoacoustic system can be viewed as a critical phenomenon. As a crucial discovery of the system dynamics approaching LBO, we unravel the existence of the discrete scale invariance (DSI). In this context, we identify the presence of log-periodic oscillations in the temporal evolution of the amplitude of dominant mode of low-frequency oscillations $(A_f)$ exist in pressure fluctuations preceding LBO. The presence of DSI indicates the recursive development of blowout. Additionally, we find that $A_f$ shows a faster than exponential growth and becomes singular when blowout occurs. We then present a model that depicts the evolution of $A_f$ based on log-periodic corrections to the power law associated with its growth. Using the model, we find that blowout can be predicted even several seconds earlier. The predicted time of LBO in good agreement with the actual time of occurrence of LBO obtained from the experiment.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2022

Abrupt transitions in turbulent thermoacoustic systems

Abrupt transitions to the state of thermoacoustic instability (TAI) in gas turbine combustors are a significant challenge plaguing the development of next-generation low-emission aircraft and power generation engines. In this paper, we present the observation of abrupt transition in three disparate turbulent thermoacoustic systems: an annular combustor, a swirl-stabilized combustor, and a preheated bluff-body stabilized combustor. Using a low-order stochastic thermoacoustic model, we show that the reported abrupt transitions occur when an initially stable, supercritical limit cycle becomes unstable, leading to a secondary bifurcation to a large amplitude limit cycle solution. The states of combustion noise and intermittency observed in these turbulent combustors are well captured by the additive stochastic noise in the model. Through amplitude reduction, we analyze the underlying potential functions affecting the stability of the observed dynamical states. Finally, we make use of the Fokker-Planck equation, educing the effect of stochastic fluctuations on subcritical and secondary bifurcation. We conclude that a high enough intensity of stochastic fluctuations which transforms a subcritical bifurcation into an intermittency-facilitated continuous transition may have little effect on the abrupt nature of secondary bifurcation. Our findings imply the high likelihood of abrupt transitions in turbulent combustors possessing higher-order nonlinearities where turbulence intensities are disproportionate to the large amplitude limit cycle solution.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2022

Rijke tube: A nonlinear oscillator

Dynamical systems theory has emerged as an interdisciplinary area of research to characterize the complex dynamical transitions in real-world systems. Various nonlinear dynamical phenomena and bifurcations have been discovered over the decades using different reduced-order models of oscillators. Different measures and methodologies have been developed theoretically to detect, control, or suppress the nonlinear oscillations. However, obtaining such phenomena experimentally is often challenging, time-consuming, and risky, mainly due to the limited control of certain parameters during experiments. With this review, we aim to introduce a paradigmatic and easily configurable Rijke tube oscillator to the dynamical systems community. The Rijke tube is commonly used by the combustion community as a prototype to investigate the detrimental phenomena of thermoacoustic instability. Recent investigations in such Rijke tubes have utilized various methodologies from dynamical systems theory to better understand the occurrence of thermoacoustic oscillations, their prediction and mitigation, both experimentally and theoretically. The existence of various dynamical behaviors has been reported in single as well as coupled Rijke tube oscillators. These behaviors include bifurcations, routes to chaos, noise-induced transitions, synchronization, and suppression of oscillations. Various early warning measures have been established to predict thermoacoustic instabilities. Therefore, this review paper consolidates the usefulness of a Rijke tube oscillator in terms of experimentally discovering and modeling different nonlinear phenomena observed in physics; thus, transcending the boundaries between the physics and the engineering communities.

nlin.AO↗

arXiv2022

Self-coupling: An Effective Method to Mitigate Thermoacoustic Instability

The presence of undesirable large-amplitude self-sustained oscillations in combustors resulting from thermoacoustic instability can lead to performance loss and structural damage to components of gas turbine and rocket engines. Traditional feedback controls to mitigate thermoacoustic instability possess electromechanical components, which are expensive to maintain regularly and unreliable in the harsh environments of combustors. In this study, we demonstrate the quenching of thermoacoustic instability through self-coupling -- a method wherein a hollow tube is used to provide acoustic self-feedback to a thermoacoustic system. Through experiments and modeling, we identify the optimal coupling conditions for attaining amplitude death, i.e., complete suppression of thermoacoustic instabilities, in a horizontal Rijke tube. We examine the effect of both system and coupling parameters on the occurrence of amplitude death. We thereby show that the parametric regions of amplitude death occur when the coupling tube length is close to an odd multiple of the length of the Rijke tube. The optimal location of the coupling tube for achieving amplitude death is near the anti-node of the acoustic standing wave in the Rijke tube. Furthermore, we find that self-coupling mitigates thermoacoustic instability in a Rijke tube more effectively than mutual coupling of two identical Rijke tubes. Thus, we believe that self-coupling can prove to be a simple, cost-effective solution for mitigating thermoacoustic instability in gas turbine combustors.

nlin.AO↗

arXiv2022

Dynamical States and Bifurcations in Coupled Thermoacoustic Oscillators

The emergence of rich dynamical phenomena in coupled self-sustained oscillators, primarily synchronization and amplitude death, has attracted considerable interest in several fields of science and engineering. Here, we present a comprehensive theoretical study on the manifestation of these exquisite phenomena in a reduced-order model of two coupled Rijke tube oscillators, which are prototypical thermoacoustic oscillators. We characterize the dynamical behaviors of two such identical and non-identical oscillators by varying both system parameters (such as the uncoupled amplitudes and the natural frequencies of the oscillators) and coupling parameters (such as coupling strength and coupling delay). The present model captures all the dynamical phenomena -- namely synchronization, phase-flip bifurcation, amplitude death, and partial amplitude death -- observed previously in experiments on coupled Rijke tubes. By performing numerical simulations and deriving approximate analytical solutions, we systematically decipher the conditions and the bifurcations underlying the aforementioned phenomena. The insights provided by this study can be used to understand the interactions between multiple cans in gas turbines combustors and develop suitable control strategies to avert undesirable thermoacoustic oscillations in them.

nlin.AO↗

arXiv2022

Cluster formation in particle-laden flows is a continuous phase transition

Studying particle-laden flows is essential to understand diverse physical processes such as rain formation in clouds, pathogen transmission, and pollutant dispersal. Distinct clustering patterns are formed in such flows with particles of different inertia (characterized by Stokes number St). For the first time, we use complex networks to study the spatiotemporal dynamics in such flows. We simulate particles in a 2D Taylor-Green flow and show that the network measures characterize both the local and global clustering properties. As particles cluster into specific patterns from a randomly distributed initial condition, we observe an emergence of a giant component in the derived network through a continuous phase transition. Further, the phase transition time is identified to be related to the Stokes number through a power law for St < 0.25 and an exponential function for St in the range 0.25 to 1. Our findings provide novel insights into the clustering phenomena in particle-laden flows.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2022

Control of growth of local heat release rate fluctuations to suppress thermoacoustic instability

This experimental study investigates the dynamical transition from stable operation to thermoacoustic instability in a turbulent bluff-body stabilized dump combustor. We conduct experiments to characterize the dynamical transition utilizing acoustic pressure and local heat release rate fluctuations. We observe the transition to thermoacoustic instability for these experiments as we decrease the equivalence ratio towards a fuel-lean setting. More importantly, we observe significant growth of local heat release rate fluctuations near the bluff-body well before the appearance of large-scale spatial or temporal patterns during the occurrence of thermoacoustic instability. By strategically positioning slots (perforations) on the bluff-body, we ensure the reduction of the growth of local heat release rate fluctuations at the stagnation zone near the bluff-body at operating conditions far away from the onset of thermoacoustic instability. This reduction in the local heat release rate fluctuations ensures that the transition to thermoacoustic instability is avoided. We find that modified configurations of the bluff-body that do not quench these local heat release rate fluctuations at the stagnation zone results in the transition to thermoacoustic instability. We also reveal that an effective suppression strategy based on the growth of local heat release rate fluctuations requires an optimization of the area ratio of the slots for a given bluff-body position. Further, the suppression strategy also depends on the spatial distribution of perforations on the bluff-body. Notably, an inappropriate distribution of the slots which does not quench the local heat release rate fluctuations at the stagnation zone may even result in a dramatic increase in amplitudes of pressure oscillations.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

Coupled interaction between acoustics and unsteady flame dynamics during the transition to thermoacoustic instability in a multi-element rocket combustor

Rocket engine combustors are prone to transverse instabilities that are characterized by large amplitude high frequency oscillations in the acoustic pressure and the heat release rate. We study the coupled interaction between the acoustic pressure and the CH* intensity oscillations in a 2D multi-element self-excited model rocket combustor during the transition from a stable state to thermoacoustic instability through intermittency. We show the emergence of synchronization between these oscillations from desynchronization through intermittent phase synchronization during the onset of thermoacoustic instability. We find substantial evidence that the intensities of the jet flames close to the end wall is higher than that observed near the center of the combustor as a result of its strong coupling to the local acoustic field. Using concepts from recurrence theory, we distinguish the type of synchronization between the acoustic pressure and the CH* intensity oscillations at the end wall and the center of the combustor during thermoacoustic instability. Analyzing the local CH* intensity oscillations, we observe that the longitudinally propagating jet flames experience substantial transverse displacement with flame merging effects during thermoacoustic instability. Furthermore, we differentiate the interaction of the jet flames with the shock wave during intermittency and thermoacoustic instability at both the end wall and the center of the combustor. We also discerned the change from stochastic to deterministic nature in the local CH* intensity oscillations during the transition to thermoacoustic instability. Our results demonstrate that only the first few transverse modes contribute to the generation of acoustic power from the reacting flow, in spite of the pressure oscillations featuring several harmonics.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

Neural ODE to model and prognose thermoacoustic instability

In reacting flow systems, thermoacoustic instability characterized by high amplitude pressure fluctuations, is driven by a positive coupling between the unsteady heat release rate and the acoustic field of the combustor. When the underlying flow is turbulent, as a control parameter of the system is varied and the system approach thermoacoustic instability, the acoustic pressure oscillations synchronize with heat release rate oscillations. Consequently, during the onset of thermoacoustic instability in turbulent combustors, the system dynamics transition from chaotic oscillations to periodic oscillations via a state of intermittency. Thermoacoustic systems are traditionally modeled by coupling the model for the unsteady heat source and the acoustic subsystem, each estimated independently. The response of the unsteady heat source, the flame, to acoustic fluctuations are characterized by introducing external unsteady forcing. This necessitates a powerful excitation module to obtain the nonlinear response of the flame to acoustic perturbations. Instead of characterizing individual subsystems, we introduce a neural ordinary differential equation (neural ODE) framework to model the thermoacoustic system as a whole. The neural ODE model for the thermoacoustic system uses time series of the heat release rate and the pressure fluctuations, measured simultaneously without introducing any external perturbations, to model their coupled interaction. Further, we use the parameters of neural ODE to define an anomaly measure that represents the proximity of system dynamics to limit cycle oscillations and thus provide an early warning signal for the onset of thermoacoustic instability.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2021

Dynamics of coupled thermoacoustic oscillators under asymmetric forcing: Experiments and theoretical modeling

Quenching of limit cycle oscillations (LCO), either through mutual coupling or external forcing, has attracted wide attention in several fields of science and engineering. However, the simultaneous utilization of these coupling schemes in quenching of LCO has rarely been studied despite its practical applicability. We study the dynamics of two thermoacoustic oscillators simultaneously subjected to mutual coupling and asymmetric external forcing through experiments and theoretical modeling. We investigate the forced response of both identical and non-identical thermoacoustic oscillators for two different amplitudes of LCO. Under mutual coupling alone, identical thermoacoustic oscillators display the occurrence of partial amplitude death and amplitude death, whereas under forcing alone, asynchronous quenching of LCO is observed at non-resonant conditions. When the oscillators are simultaneously subjected to mutual coupling and asymmetric forcing, we observe a larger parametric region of oscillation quenching than when the two mechanisms are utilized individually. This enhancement in the region of oscillation quenching is due to the complementary effect of amplitude death and asynchronous quenching. However, a forced response of coupled non-identical oscillators shows that the effect of forcing is insignificant on synchronization and quenching of oscillations in the oscillator which is not directly forced. Finally, we qualitatively capture the experimental results using a reduced-order theoretical model of two coupled Rijke tubes which are coupled through dissipative and time-delay coupling and asymmetrically forced. We believe that these findings offer fresh insights into the combined effects of mutual and forced synchronization in a system of coupled nonlinear oscillators.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2021

Effect of rate of change of parameter on early warning signals for critical transitions

Many dynamical systems exhibit abrupt transitions or tipping as the control parameter is varied. In scenarios where the parameter is varied continuously, the rate of change of control parameter greatly affects the performance of early warning signals (EWS) for such critical transitions.We study the impact of variation of the control parameter with a finite rate on the performance of \textcolor{black}{EWS for critical transitions} in a thermoacoustic system (a horizontal Rijke tube) exhibiting subcritical Hopf bifurcation. There is a growing interest in developing early warning signals for tipping in real systems. Firstly, we explore the efficacy of early warning signals based on critical slowing down and fractal characteristics. From this study, lag-1 autocorrelation (AC) and Hurst exponent H are found to be good measures to predict the transition well-before the tipping point. The warning time, obtained using AC and $H$, reduces with an increase in the rate of change of the control parameter following an inverse power law relation. Hence, for very fast rates, the warning time may be too short to perform any control action. Furthermore, we report the observation of a hyperexponential scaling relation between the AC and the variance of fluctuations during such dynamic Hopf bifurcation. We construct a theoretical model for noisy Hopf bifurcation wherein the control parameter is continuously varied at different rates to study the effect of rate of change of parameter on EWS. Similar results, including the hyperexponential scaling, are observed in the model as well.

nlin.PS↗