An understanding of the intricacies in the turbulent combustion process may be a key to solving many of the current energy and environmental problems. The essential nature of turbulent combustion can be derived from the interaction between stochastic flow fluctuations and deterministic molecular processes, such as chemical reaction and transport processes. Undoubtedly, this is one of the most challenging fields of engineering science today, requiring as it does the interaction of scientists and engineers in the respective fields of chemical kinetics and fluid mechanics. The 28 papers in this volume review recent advances in these two disciplines providing new insights into the fundamental processes, addressing a great deal of recent progress. This progress ranges from descriptions of elementary chemical kinetics, to working those descriptions into combustion calculations with large numbers of elementary steps, to improved understanding of turbulent reacting flows and advances in simulations of turbulent combustion. The contributions will inspire further research on many fronts, advancing the understanding of combustion processes, as well as fostering a growing interdisciplinary cooperation.

This volume contains the proceedings of the Workshop on Com bustion, sponsored by the Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering (ICASE) and the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). It was held on October 12-14, 1992, and was the sec ond workshop in the series on the subject. The first was held in 1989, and its proceedings were published by Springer-Verlag under the title "Major Research Topics in Combustion," edited by M. Y. Hussaini, A. Kumar, and R. G. Voigt. The focus of the second workshop was directed towards the development, analysis, and application of basic models in high speed propulsion of particular interest to NASA. The exploration of a dual approach combining asymptotic and numerical methods for the analysis of the models was particularly encouraged. The objectives of this workshop were i) the genesis of models that would capture or reflect the basic pllysical phenomena in SCRAMJETs and/or oblique detonation-wave engines (ODWE), and ii) the stimulation of a greater interaction between NASA exper imental research community and the academic community. The lead paper by D. Bushnell on the status and issues of high speed propulsion relevant to both the SCRAMJET and the ODWE parallels his keynote address which set the stage of the workshop. Following the lead paper were five technical sessions with titles and chairs: Experiments (C. Rogers), Reacting Free Shear Layers (C. E. Grosch), Detonations (A. K. Kapila), Ignition and Struc ture (J. Buckmaster), and Unsteady Behaviour ('1'. L. Jackson).

Contents: Description of accurate boundary conditions for the simulation of reactive flows. Parallel direct numerical simulation of turbulent reactive flow. Flame-wall interaction and heat flux modelling in turbulent channel flow. A numerical study of laminar flame wall interaction with detailed chemistry: wall temperature effects. Modeling and simulation of turbulent flame kernel evolution. Experimental and theoretical analysis of flame surface density modelling for premixed turbulent combustion. Gradient and counter-gradient transport in turbulent premixed flames. Direct numerical simulation of turbulent flames with complex chemical kinetics. Effects of curvature and unsteadiness in diffusion flames. Implications for turbulent diffusion combustion. Numerical simulations of autoignition in turbulent mixing flows. Stabilization processes of diffusion flames. References.