Experimental investigation of the resistance to the flow of a conducting fluid in flat insulated ducts in the presence of a transverse magnetic field with allowance for fringe effects and wall roughness

Abstract

The distribution of pressure, velocity, and electrical potential has been investigated for a mercury flow in insulated rectangular ducts with a large side ratio (Hartmann-type flow). The ranges of variation of the Reynolds, Hartmann, and Stewart numbers were 7·102≤R≤5·105, 0≤H≤490, and 0≤N≤24, respectively. Special attention is given to the sections of the channel where the flow enters and leaves the magnetic field. In these zones the pressure is sharply nonuniform and the velocity profiles in a plane perpendicular to the field acquire an M shape. A relation is established between the length of the entrance section, where the flow is three-dimensional, and the MHD similarity criteria. It is shown that ducts which are hydraulically smooth in the absence of a magnetic field become increasingly rough as the field grows stronger. Data are obtained on the resistance coefficient for a stabilized flow measured in a magnetic field and on the dependence of the critical Reynolds number on the Hartmann number.