Numerical calculations of liquid-metal magnetohydrodynamic flow in inlet manifold: Effects of wall-divided parallel channels on liquid metal flow and pressure in electroconductive inlet manifold

Numerical calculations have been conducted on liquid-metal MHD flows in an inlet manifold, consisting of an inlet duct, an expansion region and three parallel channels with electrically conducting walls, mainly for Ha = 10,000 and Re = 10,000. Conservation equations of fluid mass and fluid momentum together with the Poisson equation for electrical potential have been solved numerically. It has become obvious from comparison with a calculation for inlet & outlet (i.e. inlet plus outlet) manifolds that the calculation only for the inlet manifold can simulate flow behavior correctly if a flow axis length is sufficiently long. It has also become clear from a calculation for an inlet manifold without the three parallel channels that flow behavior in the inlet duct and the expanding region is nearly the same between the inlet manifolds with and without the three parallel channels. It has also become obvious from calculations by changing height locations of separating plates in the three parallel channels that calculation results including flow distribution are nearly the same within locations of the separating plates examined in this study.