Magnetic force vectors as a new visualization tool for magnetohydrodynamic convection

In the absence of a proper visualizing tool to present the local intensity of magnetic force during magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) convection, the understanding of the local behavior of the magnetic force interacting with a convective flow is not possible. To address the same, this work presents a new visualization tool to explore the local action of the magnetic force during MHD convection, in-depth. The necessity of this visualization tool is illustrated using three typical thermal cavities undergoing MHD convection over a range of parametric variations. From the fundamentals of mechanics and the coupling between a uniform magnetic field and convective velocity, the distribution of the magnetic force is varied in the cavities, which is visualized as a force vector using vector plots. The coupled transports of fluid flow and heat transfer are investigated using the streamlines, isotherms, heatlines, and this newly developed tool of magnetic force vectors. The study is performed considering an incompressible laminar flow within the validity of the Boussinesq approximation using an indigenous code. The outcomes of the study reveal that the implementation of this visualization technique for the magnetic force can properly explain the inner-dynamics of MHD convection in different regions of the thermal cavities. The local strength of the magnetic force strongly depends upon local flow fields and parametric values. The different patterns of the local behaviors of heat and fluid flow dynamics are reported against the pertinent parameters along with the global behavior of heat transfer. The present concept of magnetic force visualization can meaningfully be implemented in different multiphysical areas of magnetohydrodynamic convection involving ferrofluid, nanofluids, porous media, plasma, electrolytes, heat generation, thermal radiation, hybrid nanofluids, bioconvection, biomedical science, liquid metals, material processing, geophysical or astrophysical plasma process.

Automated summary

This study introduces a new visualization tool to investigate the local action of magnetic force during magnetohydrodynamic convection. By analyzing the coupling between magnetic force and convective velocity, the distribution of magnetic force in cavities is visualized using force vectors. The outcomes reveal that local strength of magnetic force strongly depends on flow fields and parametric values, and the visualization technique can explain the inner-dynamics of MHD convection effectively.