doi:10.1016/j.proci.2014.06.026engCifuentes, L.Dopazo, C.Martín, J.Domingo, P.Vervisch, L.Local volumetric dilatation rate and scalar geometries in a premixed methane-air turbulent jet flameART-2015-91233The local volumetric dilatation rate, namely, the rate of change of an infinitesimal fluid volume per unit volume, [fórmula], is an important variable particularly in flows with heat release. Its tangential and normal strain rate components,[fórmula] and [fórmula] , respectively, account for stretching and partially for separation of iso-scalar surfaces. A three-dimensional direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a turbulent premixed methane–air flame in a piloted Bunsen burner configuration has been performed by solving the full conservation equations for mass, momentum, energy and chemical species using tabulated chemistry. Results for the volumetric dilatation rate as a function of the iso-scalar surface geometry, characterized by the mean and Gauss curvatures, [fórmula] and [fórmula] , are obtained in several zones (reactants, preheat, reacting and products) of the computational domain. Flat iso-scalar surfaces are the most likely geometries in agreement with previous DNS. The relationship between density and a reaction progress variable, under a low Mach number flamelet assumption, leads to an expression for [fórmula] with contributions from progress variable source and molecular diffusion budget, with a significant contribution from the latter; this approximate expression for the volumetric dilatation rate is studied with DNS results. The joint pdf of [fórmula] and[fórmula] confirms that the line [fórmula] separates mostly expansive flow regions from compressive zones.2015http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/16501810.1016/j.proci.2014.06.026http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/165018oai:zaguan.unizar.es:165018PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMBUSTION INSTITUTE 35, 2 (2015), 1295-1303All rights reservedhttp://www.europeana.eu/rights/rr-f/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess