Subcritical instability of liquid metal channel flow in the presence of a spanwise magnetic field

Abstract

AbstractThe linear and nonlinear evolution of perturbations is investigated in a magnetohydrodynamic channel flow with electrically insulating walls. The applied magnetic field is parallel to the walls and orthogonal to the stream. Linear optimal perturbations and their maximum amplifications over finite time intervals are computed using a scheme based on the direct and adjoint governing equations. It is shown that dominant optimal perturbations are no more the classical streamwise modes and how the flow is two‐dimenzionalized for high enough Hartmann numbers. For fixed Reynolds and Hartmann numbers, direct numerical simulations are applied to investigate how the transition to turbulence is affected by the magnetic field. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)