On dynamics of gasless combustion in slowly varying periodic media: periodic fronts, their stability and propagation-extinction-diffusion-reignition pattern

In this paper we consider a classical model of gasless combustion in a one dimensional formulation under the assumption of ignition temperature kinetics. We study the propagation of flame fronts in this model when the initial distribution of the solid fuel is a spatially periodic function that varies on a large scale. It is shown that in certain parametric regimes the model supports periodic traveling fronts. An accurate asymptotic formula for the velocity of the flame front is derived and studied. The stability of periodic fronts is also explored, and a critical condition in terms of parameters of the problem is derived. It is also shown that the instability of periodic fronts, in a certain parametric regimes, results in a propagation-extinction-diffusion-reignition pattern which is studied numerically.