Abstract
In this study, examined are three-dimensional Liquid metal (LM) Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow and convective heat transfer in merging ducts with locally different electric conductivities, having two inlets and one outlet, under a uniform magnetic field. Computational fluid dynamics simulations are performed to predict the behavior of the MHD flows in the ducts. Though numerous analytic, experimental and numerical studies on LM MHD duct flows were performed, detailed flow characteristics of a LM MHD flow in a merging duct with locally different electric conductivities have rarely been studied. In the present study, the interdependency of the current, fluid velocity, pressure, electric potential is examined in order to describe the electromagnetic characteristics of the liquid-metal flows in merging ducts. Here, cases with various arrangements of the electric conductivity in two inflow channel walls are considered for different Hartmann numbers, yielding different distributions of the fluid velocity in different cases, which leads to the imbalance of mass flow rate in the inflow channels, allowing differential cooling in a liquid metal cooling system of a fusion reactor.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
C. N. Kim, A liquid metal magnetohydrodynamic duct flow with sudden contraction in a direction perpendicular to a magnetic field, Computers and Fluids, 108 (2015) 156–167.
G. G. Branover, A. S. Vasil’ev and Y. M. Gel’fgat, Effect of a transverse magnetic field on the flow in a duct at a sudden cross section enlargement, Magnetohydrodynamics, 3 (3) (1967) 61–65.
I. R. Kirillov, C. B. Reed, L. N. Barleon and K. Miyazaki, Present understanding of MHD and heat transfer phenomena for liquid metal blankets, Fusion Engineering and Design, 27 (1995) 553–569.
R. Stieglitz, L. Barleon, L. Bühler and S. Molokov, Magnetohydrodynamic flow through a right-angle bend in a strong magnetic field, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 326 (1996) 91–123.
L. Buhler, S. Horanyi and E. Arbogast, Experimental investigation of liquid-metal flows through a sudden expansion at fusion-relevant Hartmann numbers, Fusion Engineering and Design, 82 (2007) 2239–2245.
S. Cuevas, B. F. Picologlou, J. S. Walker and G. Talmage, Liquid-metal MHD flow in rectangular ducts with thin conducting or insulating walls: laminar and turbulent solutions, International Journal of Engineering Science, 35 (5) (1997) 485–503.
L. Buhler, Laminar buoyant magnetohydrodynamic flow in vertical rectangular ducts, Physics of Fluids, 10 (1) (1998) 223–236.
J. S. Walker and G. S. S. Ludford, MHD flows in conducting circular expansions with strong transverse magnetic fields, International Journal of Engineering Science, 12 (1974) 193–204.
T. J. Moon, T. Q. Hua, J. S. Walker and B. F. Picologlou, Liquid metal flow in a simple manifold with a strong transverse magnetic field, Applied Scientific Research, 49 (1992) 49–65.
P. G. Siddheshwar and U. S. Mahabaleswar, Effects of radiation and heat source on MHD flow of a viscoelastic liquid and heat transfer over a stretching sheet, International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics, 40 (2005) 807–820.
T. Zhou, Z. Yang, M. Ni and H. Chen, Code development and validation for analyzing liquid metal MHD flow in rectangular ducts, Fusion Engineering and Design, 85 (2010) 1736–1741.
T. Kunugi, M. S. Tillack and M. A. Abdou, Analysis of liquid metal MHD fluid flow and heat transfer using the KAT code, Fusion Science and Technology, 19 (3) (1991) 1000–1005.
P. K. Swain et al., 3D MHD lead-lithium liquid metal flow analysis and experiments in a test-section of multiple rectangular bends at moderate to high Hartmann numbers, Fusion Engineering and Design, 88 (2013) 2848–2859.
I. D. Piazza and L. Buhler, Numerical simulation of Buoyant Magnetohydrodynamic flows using the CFX code, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe Technik und Umwelt, Wissenschaftliche Berichte FZKA 6354, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, GmbH (1999).
J. H. Yang, Y. Yue and C. N. Kim, Numerical investigation of the LM MHD flows in a curved duct with an FCI with varying slot locations, Fusion Engineering and Design, 105 (2016) 86–100.
C. N. Kim, Numerical examination of liquid metal magnetohydrodynamic flow in multiple channels in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field, Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology, 28 (12) (2014) 4959–4968.
J. Reiman, L. Buhler, C. Mistrangelo and S. Molokov, Magneto-hydrodynamic issues of the HCLL blanket, Fusion Engineering and Design, 81 (2006) 625–629.
S. H. Kim, M. H. Kim, D. W. Lee and C. Choi, Code validation and development for MHD analysis of liquid metal flow in Korean TBM, Fusion Engineering and Design, 87 (2012) 951–955.
K. Arshad, A. Majid, M. Rafique and S. Jabeen, Numerical simulation of magnetohydrodynamic pressure drop in a curved bend under different conditions, Fusion Engineering and Design, 18 (1) (2007) 1–12.
J. Mao and H. Pan, Three-dimensional numerical simulation for magnetohydrodynamic flows in a staggered grid system, Fusion Engineering and Design, 88 (2013) 145–150.
C. Mistrangelo and L. Buhler, Numerical investigation of liquid metal flows in a rectangular sudden expansion, Fusion Engineering and Design, 82 (2007) 2176–2182.
W. M. Stacey, Fusion, John Wiley & Sons, New York (1981).
www.efunda.com/Materials/alloys/alloy_home/steels_properties.cfm.
S. Smolentsev et al., An approach to verification and validation of MHD codes for fusion applications, Fusion Engineering and Design, 100 (2015) 65–72.
C. Mistrangelo, Three-dimensional MHD flow in sudden expansions, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, FZKA 7201.
M. Raw, Robustness of coupled algebraic multi-grid for the Navier-Stokes equations, AIAA Meeting Papers on Disc, A9618260, AIAA Paper 96-0297 (1996).
W. Z. Shen, J. A. Michelsen and J. N. Sorensen, Improved Rhie-Chow interpolation for unsteady flow computations, AIAA Journal, 39 (12) (2001) 2406–2409.
X. J. Xiao and C. N. Kim, Magnetohydrodynamic flows in a hairpin duct under a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the plane of flow, Applied Mathematics and Computation, 240 (2014) 1–15.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Recommended by Associate Editor Hyoung-gwon Choi
Chang Nyung Kim is a Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Korea. His research interests include numerical analysis of magnetohydro-dynamics and thermoelectricity.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Luo, Y., Kim, C.N. Effects of Hartmann number and conductance ratio on the flow imbalance in merging ducts with locally different electric conductivities. J Mech Sci Technol 31, 4813–4823 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-017-0929-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-017-0929-z