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A three-dimensional direct numerical simulation of a propagating turbulent premixed flame is performed using one-step Arrhenius model chemistry. The interaction of the flame thermochemical processes with the local geometries of the scalar field and flow topologies is studied. Four regions (“fresh reactants,” “preheating,” “burning,” and “hot products”), characterized by their reaction rate and mass fraction values, are examined. Thermochemical processes in the “preheating” and “burning” regions smooth out highly contorted iso-scalar surfaces, present in the “fresh reactants,” and annihilate large curvatures. Positive volumetric dilatation rates, −P = ∇ · u, display maxima for elliptic concave and minima for convex scalar micro-structures. Constant average tangential strain rates, aT, with large fluctuations, occur throughout the flow domain, whereas normal strain rates, aN, follow the trends of volumetric dilatation rates. Focal topologies, present in the “fresh reactants,” tend to disappear in favor of nodal structures as moving towards the “hot products.” The vorticity vector is predominantly tangential to the iso-scalar surfaces. The Unstable Node/Saddle/Saddle and Stable Focus/Stretching topologies, present in the “fresh reactants,” correlate with large values of aN and aT providing hints on the flow topologies fostering scalar mixing.

A direct numerical simulations database of statistically planar turbulent premixed flames using a simple Arrhenius type irreversible chemistry for different values of global Lewis numbers, Le, (0.34, 0.60, 0.80, 1.00, 1.20) has been examined to analyze the effects of Le on vorticity transport within the flame. To meet this objective, a general enstrophy conservation equation has been considered, which distinctly describes contributions from vortex-stretching, destruction by volumetric dilatation rates, baroclinic and viscous force torques, viscous transport, and dissipation. The average statistical behavior of the various contributions conditioned upon the value of the reaction progress variable, c, has been analyzed in the preheat and reacting regions of the flame. The mean values of enstrophy monotonically decays with c from fresh reactants toward hot products for Le equal to 0.8, 1.0, and 1.2; vortex-stretching and viscous dissipation are the leading contributors, while the remaining contributions are slightly smaller although non-negligible. By contrast, the mean value of enstrophy decreases from the leading edge before increasing up to the trailing edge of the flame; in these cases, the mean value of baroclinic torque is significantly greater than the other contributions in most of the preheat and reacting regions; vortex-stretching, destruction by volumetric dilatation rates and viscous transport, and dissipation remain comparable over most of the flame. An explanation for the significant qualitative and quantitative differences in the enstrophy transport, taking place for Le between 0.6 and 0.8 for the given turbulence intensity, is sought in terms of the alignments of vorticity and the gradients of density, pressure, temperature, and reaction progress variable. The transport statistics of the enstrophies of the vorticity vector components tangential and normal to iso-scalar surfaces, c(x, t) = constant, provide further insight into the mechanisms of the differences in the enstrophy transport in response to the changes in the global Lewis number.

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