Simulations of rim stabilized edge flames at atmospheric and high pressures using a p-adaptive spectral difference method

A first p-adaptive spectral difference (SD) algorithm for combustion is proposed and used for the simulations of rim stabilized edge (RSE) flames at atmospheric and high pressures. It combines a constant p SD algorithm recently introduced for combustion simulations with a mortar element method to compute a unique flux value at interfaces where left and right elements work at different polynomial degrees. A comparison between three sensors used to set the polynomial distribution across elements has been performed highlighting the computational efficiency and accuracy of the sensor based on the heat release rate. Results clearly demonstrate the ability of such an algorithm to accurately reproduce the complex flame topology of RSE flames at a lower cost than with constant p calculations, especially at high pressure, where the flame thickness is very thin and requires very fine meshes.