Application of numerical simulations to predict aircraft combustor ignition

The present study aims at contributing to the development of a methodology to predict and improve the ignition performances of aircraft combustors. A model has been developed to investigate the early growth of a spherical ignition kernel in a two-phase flow mixture. It has been combined with a multiphysic code through two different approaches. The ignition kernel model is used to build the ignition probability map of a combustor. The output of the model can also be introduced as an initial condition in an unsteady simulation to test the flame propagation in the combustor. To validate both methods, RANS and LES simulations have been performed on an experimental combustion chamber, reproducing one sector of an industrial combustor. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS on behalf of Academie des sciences.