Some extremum principles for magnetohydrodynamic flow in conducting pipes

Abstract

AbstractExtremum principles are obtained for the laminar flow of a conducting liquid in a straight pipe of arbitrary cross-section with conducting walls of arbitrary thickness, which is subject to a uniform applied magnetic field. These extrema provide upper and lower bounds for the mass-flow rate in the pipe. These bounds are particularly useful in the construction of asymptotic estimates for the flow rate at high Hartmann number. The method is illustrated by its application to the pipe of circular cross-section and to pipes with thin conducting walls.