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Experimental and numerical results which summarize the influence of the external axial magnetic field on the pattern of flow which occurs when an electric current passes through a conducting medium between two hemispheres are presented. Calculations were made using different magnetohydrodynamic computational approaches and results compared. Methods presented in this paper involve electrodynamic approximation, non-inductive approximation and full coupled MHD problem. The discussed methods can be applied to calculate flow patterns in direct-current-arc furnaces and to other electrometallurgical problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigation of heat transfer characteristics during liquid metal flow in a horizontal tube with one-sided heating of the lower half of the tube is carried out. Experimental investigations are conducted using the mercury MHD complex of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute and the Joint Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Science, in the context of a long-term collaboration program. The characteristics of the averaged and fluctuation temperatures are considered in different sections over the length of the heating zone in the area of a homogeneous transverse magnetic field. The laminar liquid metal flow revealed the occurrence and development of a low-frequency quasi-harmonic temperature fluctuation with great intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper presents the experimental and numerical results of an electrically induced flow in a cylindrical container (188 mm diameter) filled with a In–Ga–Sn alloy. The electric current is applied from copper electrodes of various diameters (4–8 mm) and varied from 100 to 700 A. The deformation of the free surface just under the electrode is reported in term of depth. At some critical current an arc develops around the electrode tip. To explore numerically what happens in such flows, calculations of the Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow are performed. The numerical model is based on a potential formulation for the electromagnetic field. The evolution of the free surface flow is tracked with a VOF model. The electromagnetic parameters are fully coupled with the evolution of the free surface and the contact surface at the electrode. At low current density the interface is shifted downward by the pinch action of the Lorentz force. In the same time the rotational part of the Lorentz force drives the liquid metal flow in radial direction towards the electrode. The flow is accelerated towards the electrode and sinks in the form of a strong jet. At the high current density, the velocities are strong enough to induce further displacement of the interface by a Bernoulli mechanism. The combined action of the pinch and the rotational components of the Lorentz force on the interface displacement, scales as I 2 . The numerical and experimental results are in good agreements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]