Numerical modeling of MHD effect for pumping molten metals

The paper deals with the numerical modeling of pumping molten metals based on the principle of the magnetohydrodynamic effect, i.e. force effect of an external stationary current field and magnetic field on an electrically conductive liquid. Described is the physical essence of the effect that represents the starting point for the formulation of its mathematical model. The theoretical analysis is illustrated on two examples. The first pump works with practically uniform electric field in a hydrodynamically less favorable channel of rectangular cross-section while the second one with nonuniform electric field in hydrodynamically more advantageous circular channel. The conclusion is devoted to the discussion about the possibilities of optimization of the device