Natural convection of liquid metal under a uniform magnetic field with an electric current supplied from outside

Abstract

The effect of an electric current supplied from outside on the natural convection of liquid metal under a uniform magnetic field is studied both experimentally and numerically. A cubic enclosure filled with the liquid metal is heated and cooled from the facing electro-conductive vertical sidewalls while other four walls are thermally and electrically insulated. A horizontal magnetic field is applied parallel to the hot and cold walls. Two electrodes to apply an electric current to the liquid metal are inserted at the center of the hot and cold electro-conductive sidewalls, respectively. With applying the magnetic field only, the natural convection is damped out by the Lorentz force which is the interaction between the induced electric current and the external magnetic field. When both the magnetic field and the additional electric current are applied, the convection pattern and heat transfer rate from the hot wall to the cold wall become different compared to the case of the magnetic field only.