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A Lagrangian analysis approach is used to examine the effects of heat release on the dynamics of the enstrophy during highly turbulent premixed combustion. The analysis is performed using data from a direct numerical simulation of a statistically planar premixed methane–air flame at a Karlovitz number of 100. Through cumulative, conditional, and correlation analyses, we show, consistent with prior studies, that vortex stretching and baroclinic torque both increase enstrophy at these highly turbulent conditions, while viscous transport and dilatation both lead to enstrophy destruction. However, although vortex stretching and viscous transport are individually an order of magnitude greater than all other terms in the enstrophy budget, the cumulative and combined effect of these two terms along Lagrangian trajectories is roughly only twice as large as the combined cumulative effect of dilatation and baroclinic torque. Moreover, trajectories that exhibit an increase in enstrophy through the flame are found to frequently have cumulative contributions from budget terms outside a single standard deviation of the mean contribution, indicating that enstrophy production at such highly turbulent conditions is associated with relatively infrequent but large values of dynamical terms. Lagged correlations further reveal a small but measurable contribution of baroclinic torque in enstrophy production, but these increases are overwhelmed, on average, by concurrent decreases in enstrophy due to viscous transport and dilatation. Taken together, these results provide further understanding of enstrophy dynamics in highly turbulent premixed flames.

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