Rayleigh--Bénard convection in strong vertical magnetic field: flow structure and verification of numerical method

Abstract

Direct numerical simulations are performed to study turbulent Rayleigh-Benard convection in a vertical cylindrical cavity with uniform axial magnetic field. Flows at high Hartmann and Rayleigh numbers are considered. The calculations reveal that, similarly to the behavior observed in Rayleigh-Benard convection with strong rotation, flows at strong magnetic field develop a central vortex, while the heat transfer is suppressed.