Three-Dimensional Numerical Analyses on Liquid-Metal Magnetohydrodynamic Flow in Magnetic-Field Inlet-Region

Three-dimensional numerical calculations have been performed on liquid-metal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow through a rectangular channel in the inlet region of the magnetic field, including a region upstream the applied magnetic field section. The continuity equation, the momentum equation and the induction equation have been solved numerically by the finite difference method. Along the flow axis (i.e. the channel axis), the pressure decreases slightly as normal non-MHD flow, increases once, thereafter decreases sharply and finally decreases gradually as fully-developed MHD flow. The sharp decrease in the pressure in the inlet region is due to increase in the induced electric current in this region comparing with that in the fully-developed region. The flow velocity distribution also changes gradually from a parabolic profile of a laminar flow to a flat profile of a fully-developed MHD flow.