Open AccessThe influence of electric current application configuration on the electro-vortex flow structure of conductive medium in cylindrical cell
Author(s) -
Sergei Mandrykin,
I. Kolesnichenko
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iop conference series. materials science and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1757-899X
pISSN - 1757-8981
DOI - 10.1088/1757-899x/950/1/012031
Subject(s) - vortex , cylinder , mechanics , electrode , current (fluid) , radius , flow (mathematics) , electrical conductor , electric current , electric field , current density , physics , materials science , geometry , mathematics , thermodynamics , composite material , computer science , computer security , quantum mechanics
A numerical study of the liquid metal electro-vortex flows (EVF) in a closed cylindrical cell, the radius of which is equal to its height, is performed. A direct current of 1000 A is applied through the electrodes at the bottom cylinder face, and is collected at the entire surface of the cylinder top end face. Various configurations of electrode location are considered. Namely, from one to five electrodes are placed on the cylinder bottom end face. The three-dimensional fields of the conducting medium flow velocity in the cell are obtained as a result of numerical simulations. The EVF is non-stationary in all considered regimes. In the one-electrode case, the flow is poloidal and is represented by one large-scale vortex. In the multielectrode case, the flow consists of multiple small-scale vortices, the size and quantity of which depend on the configuration of the electric current application. At the same electric current value of 1000 A, the mean flow velocity and characteristic frequency of the process are higher for the localized current application — 6.4 and 2.5 times respectively.