Using complex networks to tame combustion instability

Engineers have long battled a problem that can cause loud, damaging oscillations inside gas turbines and aircraft engines: combustion instability. These unwanted pressure fluctuations create vibrations so intense that they can cause fatal structural damage to combustor walls, posing a serious threat in many applications. Combustion instability occurs when acoustic waves, heat release, and flow patterns interact in a strong feedback loop, amplifying each other until the entire system becomes unstable.