Basic study on diffusion branch of tribrachial flame with the variation of flammability limits and heat loss under small fuel concentration gradient

The tribrachial flame has attracted interest as a basic structure of the flame edge. This flame structure helps understand stabilization of laminar flames and re-ignition of turbulent flames. A number of analytical and experimental studies have been carried out on the tribrachial flame. However, the effect of the variation of the flammability limits on the structure of the tribrachial flame has not been studied in detail. In this study, the effect of non-symmetric flammability limits on the flame structure was investigated by adopting a simple numerical scheme based on several laminar flame theories. A fixed velocity field was considered and boundary matching algorithm was used on the premixed branch. The variation of the diffusion branches under the non-symmetric flammability limits and heat loss was investigated. The formation and extinction of the diffusion branch behind the premixed branch were successfully described. This basic study can help understand the fundamental structure of the flame and can form the basis of subsequent detailed studies.