| Sumario: | The 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.
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