Exceptional points are found in the spectrum of a prototypical thermoacoustic system as the parameters of the flame transfer function are varied. At these points, two eigenvalues and the associated eigenfunctions coalesce. The system's sensitivity to changes in the parameters becomes infinite. Two eigenvalue branches collide at the exceptional point as the interaction index is increased. One branch originates from a purely acoustic mode, whereas the other branch originates from an intrinsic thermoacoustic mode. The existence of exceptional points in thermoacoustic systems has implications for physical understanding, computing, modeling and control.

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Gas turbine combustors are prone to undesirable combustion dynamics in the form of thermoacoustic oscillations. Analysis of the stability of thermoacoustic systems in the frequency domain leads to nonlinear eigenvalue problems (NLEVP); here, “nonlinear” refers to the fact that the eigenvalue, the complex oscillation frequency, appears in a nonlinear fashion. In this paper, we employ a noniterative strategy based on contour integration in the complex eigenvalue plane, which returns all eigenvalues inside the contour. An introduction to the technique is given, and is complemented with guidelines for the specific application to thermoacoustic problems. Two prototypical nonlinear eigenvalue problems are considered: a network model of the classical Rijke tube with an analytic flame response model and a finite element discretization of an annular model combustor with an experimental flame transfer function (FTF). Computation of all eigenvalues in a domain of interest is vital to assess stability of these systems. We demonstrate that this is generally challenging for iterative strategies. An eigenvalue solver based on contour integration, in contrast, provides a reliable, noniterative method to achieve this goal.

Gas turbine combustors are prone to undesirable combustion dynamics in the form of thermoacoustic oscillations. Analysis of the stability of thermoacoustic systems in the frequency domain leads to nonlinear eigenvalue problems; here, ‘nonlinear’ refers to the fact that the eigenvalue, the complex oscillation frequency, appears in a nonlinear fashion. In this paper, we employ a non-iterative strategy based on contour integration in the complex eigenvalue plane, which returns all eigenvalues inside the contour. An introduction to the technique is given, and is complemented with guidelines for the specific application to thermoacoustic problems. Two prototypical nonlinear eigenvalue problems are considered: a network model of the classical Rijke tube with an analytic flame response model and a finite element discretization of an annular model combustor with an experimental flame transfer function. Computation of all eigenvalues in a domain of interest is vital to assess stability of these systems. We demonstrate that this is generally challenging for iterative strategies. An eigenvalue solver based on contour integration, in contrast, provides a reliable, non-iterative method to achieve this goal.

No abstract