Turbulent effects of liquid metal flow u

This paper presents direct numerical simulations of a liquid metal flow under a space-varying magnetic field in an insulating circular duct. This is a generalization of a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD hereafter) benchmark case in the nuclear fusion field. The main task at hand is to accurately define the transitional effects (suppression, triggering, intermittency) related to fringing magnetic fields and turbulence. The present paper addresses two qualitatively different cases: one considers a turbulent flow entering a strong magnetic field while the other examines the MHD flow leaving a strong magnetic field. The paper presents illustrative results concerning different Hartmann numbers for the case in turbulent flow and one very strong magnetic field for the case of MHD flow leaving the magnetic field. Additionally, preliminary purely hydrodynamic computations are presented at an identical flow regime with the MHD cases. An excellent agreement has been obtained against both previous experimental and numerical results. This research contributes to the understanding of MHD flows which are crucial in several industrial applications and in the design of fusion reactor devices.