Numerical and experimental study of electromagnetically driven vortical flows

The paper reports on numerical and experimental investigations of electromagnetically driven vortical flows of an electrically conductive fluid in a generic setup. Two different configurations of permanent magnets are considered: a 3-magnet configuration in which the resulting Lorentz force is focused in the wall-boundary layers, and a 2-magnet configuration which creates a centrally located intensive swirling motion. For both configurations the intensity of the Lorentz force could be varied by variation of the electrode DC current between 0.5 and 10 A. A comparative assessment of measured (PIV) and numerically calculated (LES with electromagnetically extended subgrid closure) velocity fields showed good agreement for both configurations. It is demonstrated that the newly designed setup can be used for fundamental studies of the interactions between fluid flow, turbulence and electromagnetic fields and provide detailed insights into the underlying physics of these interactions. This in turn can be used to optimise magnetic control of flow, turbulence and heat transfer in various configurations of practical relevance.