Interplay between experimental and numerical approaches in the fluid dynamo problem

Abstract

After years of purely analytical and numerical investigations, the dynamo fluid problem has advanced to a phase of experimental study. We present an outline of the numerical steps that have accompanied the Von Kármán Sodium (VKS) experiment at Cadarache for the past ten years. We show how various numerical studies contributed progressively to the optimization of the experimental facility. The recent success of the VKS2 experiment of September 2006 in achieving dynamo action has prompted an extension of the numerical code. Modeling of the electromotive force induced in the volume of the impellers shows that an axial dipole is excited, as observed in the experiment. We infer from these results that the observed value of the critical magnetic Reynolds number may be linked to the soft iron of the impellers and not to turbulence which occurs for any choice of materials. We conclude with proposals for further lines of numerical development. To cite this article: J. Léorat, C. Nore, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).