Liquid-metal flow in an electrically insulated rectangular duct with a non-uniform magnetic field

This paper presents a model for the steady liquid-metal flow through a rectangular duct with electrically insulated walls and with an externally applied, spatially variable, transverse magnetic field. The magnetic field is strong enough that inertial effects cap be neglected and that viscous effects are confined to boundary layers. The model involves a composite solution for the inviscid core region and the boundary layers adjacent to the two walls which are parallel to the magnetic field. In regions of a non-uniform magnetic field, the flow-is concentrated near this pair of walls and there is a pressure drop associated with the circulations of electric currents in planes which are perpendicular to the magnetic field. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.