Magnetoconvection in a horizontal duct flow at very high Hartmann and Grashof numbers

Direct numerical simulations and linear stability analysis are carried out to study mixed convection in a horizontal duct with constant-rate heating applied at the bottom and an imposed transverse horizontal magnetic field. A two-dimensional approximation corresponding to the asymptotic limit of a very strong magnetic field effect is validated and applied, together with full three-dimensional analysis, to investigate the flow's behaviour in the previously unexplored range of control parameters corresponding to typical conditions of a liquid metal blanket of a nuclear fusion reactor (Hartmann numbers up to 10(4) and Grashof numbers up to 10(10)). It is found that the instability to quasi-two-dimensional rolls parallel to the magnetic field discovered at smaller Hartmann and Grashof numbers in earlier studies also occurs in this parameter range. Transport of the rolls by the mean flow leads to magnetoconvective temperature fluctuations of exceptionally high amplitudes. It is also demonstrated that quasi-two-dimensional structure of flows at very high Hartmann numbers does not guarantee accuracy of the classical two-dimensional approximation. The accuracy deteriorates at the highest Grashof numbers considered in the study.

Automated summary

The study investigates mixed convection in a horizontal duct with a horizontal magnetic field and constant-rate heating, finding that instability to quasi-two-dimensional rolls parallel to the magnetic field occurs in the previously unexplored range of control parameters for liquid metal blankets of nuclear fusion reactors. The transport of the rolls leads to exceptionally high amplitude magnetoconvective temperature fluctuations, and a quasi-two-dimensional flow structure at very high Hartmann numbers does not guarantee the accuracy of the classical two-dimensional approximation, deteriorating at the highest Grashof numbers considered in the study.