The distributions of flow topologies within the flames representing the corrugated flamelets, thin reaction zones, and broken reaction zone regimes of premixed turbulent combustion are investigated using direct numerical simulation data of statistically planar turbulent ${\mathrm{H}}_2$-air flames with an equivalence ratio $\varphi =0.7$. It was found that the diminishing influence of dilatation rate with increasing Karlovitz number has significant influences on the statistical behaviors of the first, second, and third invariants (i.e., $P,Q$, and $R$) of the velocity gradient tensor. These differences are reflected in the distributions of the flow topologies within the flames considered in this analysis. This has important consequences for those topologies that make dominant contributions to the scalar-turbulence interaction and vortex-stretching terms in the scalar dissipation rate and enstrophy transport equations, respectively. Detailed physical explanations are provided for the observed regime dependences of the flow topologies and their implications on the scalar dissipation rate and enstrophy transport.

• Received 1 June 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.1.083401