Flame shown is a modulated traveling wave in which the cells change shape and speed as they rotate. They are interested in the formation of cellular patterns in flames. Cells can be thought of as wrinkles along the front in which hot regions alternate with cooler ones. For Le near 1, no cells form. As Le is varied, transitions to a rich variety of cellular flames occur.
Chaotic flames represent the simplest of turbulence in combustion.
These numerical studies may eventually have applications to controlling combustion. Experiments have demonstrated patterns qualitatively similar to the computations.