Magnetohydrodynamic flow due to the discharge of an electric current in a hemispherical container

Abstract

In this paper we consider the flow field induced in an incompressible viscous conducting fluid in a hemispherical bowl by a symmetric discharge of electric current from a point source at the centre of the plane end of the hemisphere. This plane end is a free surface. We construct an analytic solution for the slow viscous flow and a numeriacl solution for the nonlinear problem. The streamlines in an axial cross-section form two sets of closed loops, one on either side of the axis. Our computations indicate that, for a given fluid, when the discharged current reaches a certain magnitude the velocity field breaks down. This breakdown probably originates at the vertex of the hemispherical container.