High Magnetic Shear Gain in a Liquid Sodium Stable Couette Flow Experiment: A Prelude to an {alpha}-{Omega} Dynamo

The {Omega} phase of the liquid sodium {alpha}-{Omega} dynamo experiment at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in cooperation with Los Alamos National Laboratory has demonstrated a high toroidal field B{sub {phi}} that is {approx_equal}8xB{sub r}, where B{sub r} is the radial component of an applied poloidal magnetic field. This enhanced toroidal field is produced by the rotational shear in stable Couette flow within liquid sodium at a magnetic Reynolds number Rm{approx_equal}120. Small turbulence in stable Taylor-Couette flow is caused by Ekman flow at the end walls, which causes an estimated turbulence energy fraction of ({delta}v/v){sup 2{approx}}10{sup -3}.