Abstract
We present an experimental study about the vortex dynamics in liquid metal flow under the influence of confined non-homogeneous magnetic field, so-called magnetic obstacle. A permanent magnet installed on a moving rail beneath a cell, filled with eutectic alloy GaInSn, moves with constant velocities with the corresponding Reynolds number from \(Re = \text{125 to 2000}\). The liquid metal flow patterns are recorded using a camera moving with the magnet. Small bubbles, which are a product of hydrochloric acid and GaInSn oxide reaction, illuminate the streamlines which are to be presented here. As the velocity and hence Reynolds number and interaction parameter change, complicated phenomena are visible inside the channel including formation of vortices or their suppression, symmetry breakdown, vortex duplication and vortex shedding. The vast number of instability-related phenomena present in the flow past a magnetic obstacle make it worth investigating. This leads to a better understanding of magnetic obstacle or even turbulence. Since it is impossible to present all the observed phenomena in detail in one paper, here we present only a few illustrative examples to provide an overall view of the phenomena occurring. We conclude with a discussion of the flow instabilities and comparison between the results of our experiments and the theoretical predictions of the reference literature.
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Acknowledgments
The authors express their gratitude for financial support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Grant No. Th 497/29-1. We would also like to give many thanks to E.V. Votyakov, S. Cuevas and A. Potherat for the fruitful discussions.
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Samsami, F., Kolesnikov, Y. & Thess, A. Vortex dynamics in the wake of a magnetic obstacle. J Vis 17, 245–252 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12650-014-0204-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12650-014-0204-7