Hot-Film Measurement of Natural Convection in Liquid Gallium With and Without Magnetic Fields

The velocity and temperature fields induced by natural convection in liquid gallium were measured. Measurements were taken with and without an external magnetic field applied to the liquid gallium. The velocity field was measured with a hot-film anemometer and the temperature field with a thermocouple. The hot film was calibrated over a narrow range of temperatures in a rotating turntable filled with liquid gallium. The external magnetic field damped both the velocity and temperature fields compared to similar conditions when no external magnetic field was present. The experimental results compared reasonably well with previous numerical predictions.