Numerical Solution of Melting in Side-Heated Rectangular Enclosure Under Electromagnetically Simulated Low Gravity

Abstract

Transport phenomena associated with melting of gallium inside a side-heated rectangular enclosure under electromagnetically simulated low-gravity environment has been numerically investigated. Electromagnetic fields are configured such that the resulting Lorentz force can be used to damp and=or counteract the natural convection and thereby simulate the low-gravity environment of outer space. The governing equations are discretized using a control-volume-based finite-difference scheme. The solutions are obtained for true low gravity as well as for the simulated low-gravity environment. The results show that when the Lorentz force is due to the presence of m2agnetic field alone, the low-gravity condition is simulated by the damping effect, which is shown to have a profound effect on the flow field. On the other hand, it is shown that under electromagnetic field simulation when the Lorentz force is caused by transverse electric and magnetic fields, it is possible to minimize the flow field distortion caused by the high magnetic field and therefore achieve a much better simulation of low gravity. Furthermore, it is found that under electromagnetic simulation of low gravity it is possible to achieve flow reversal when the electromagnetic force is greater than the gravitational force. More important, it is found that the flow reversal is preceded by a transition mechanism driven by thermoelectromagnetic convection, which leads to breakup of the natural-convection flow patterns.

Laminar MHD Flow in the Entrance Region of a Plane Channel with Dissipation

“…Attia [9] extended the analysis in4 including the transient term for the flow field. Analysis of the interaction of a magnetic field with other important physical effects for various situations can be found in [1,2,10,13,20] Lima et al [26] investigate Generalized Integral Transform Technique is obtained for the MHD flow and heat transfer of a Newtonian fluid in parallel-plates channels. The study of the effects of frictional heating and distributed heat sources in the fluid on fully developed laminar free convection flow between vertical heated plates, when the temperature of the walls are kept constant or varying linearly along the plate length, has been done by Ostrach [31].…”