Multi-modal thermoacoustic instability suppression via locally resonant and Bragg bandgaps

Abstract

Thermoacoustic instability is a common occurrence in combustors, yielding self-sustained oscillations and causing potential risk, such as severe structural damage. In this paper, modal instability suppression inside a duct is studied using periodically arranged membranes within the framework of a linear heat release n-τ model embedded into a fully coupled energy-based model. The periodic arrangement of the membranes along the duct sidewall enables locally resonant and Bragg scattering bandgaps, shown to be conducive for the stabilization of unstable thermoacoustic modes. Eigen-modes are classified into different groups, which call for specific control actions in relation with the bandgap frequencies. While multi-modal instability control of low-order modes can be achieved through the tuning of the resonant bandgaps, the densely packed modal cluster, regrouping modes featuring similar mode shapes, requires proper adjustment of the flame position for avoiding modal instability. Compared with the Bragg bandgaps, locally resonant bandgaps, which should be formed near the unstable modes even without stringent periodicity, are shown to play a decisive role in the control process. Meanwhile, strict periodicity is not necessary for the proposed control strategy, showing the practicability of the proposed control strategy. The study shows a promising route to achieve simultaneous suppression of multi-modal instability.