Spontaneous rotation in the exact solution of magnetohydrodynamic equations for flow between two stationary impermeable disks

Abstract

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow of a viscous electrically conducting incompressible fluid between two stationary impermeable disks is considered. A homogeneous electric current density vector normal to the surface is specified on the upper disk, and the lower disk is nonconducting. The exact von Karman solution of the complete system of MHD equations is studied in which the axial velocity and the magnetic field depend only on the axial coordinate. The problem contains two dimensionless parameters: the electric current density on the upper plate Y and the Batchelor number (magnetic Prandtl number). It is assumed that there is no external source that produces an axial magnetic field. The problem is solved for a Batchelor number of 0–2. Fluid flow is caused by the electric current. It is shown that for small values of Y, the fluid velocity vector has only axial and radial components. The velocity of motion increases with increasing Y, and at a critical value of Y, there is a bifurcation of the new steady flow regime with fluid rotation, while the flow without rotation becomes unstable. A feature of the obtained new exact solution is the absence of an axial magnetic field necessary for the occurrence of an azimuthal component of the ponderomotive force, as is the case in the MHD dynamo. A new mechanism for the bifurcation of rotation in MHD flow is found.