Synchronization modes of triple flickering buoyant diffusion flames: Experimental identification and model interpretation.

The synchronization modes of a nonlinear oscillator system consisting of three identical flickering buoyant diffusion flames in isosceles triangles were studied experimentally and theoretically. Five synchronization modes, such as the in-phase, flickering death, partially flickering death, partially in-phase, and rotation modes, were experimentally observed and identified by systematically adjusting the flame distance and fuel flow rates. Two toy models were adopted to interpret the experimentally identified dynamical modes: one is the classical Kuramoto model, and the other is a complexified Stuart-Landau model, which was proposed through the introduction of the complex coupling term.