Experimental dynamics in magnetic field-driven flows compared to thermoconvective convection

Abstract

We compare the dynamics obtained in two intermediate aspect ratio (diameter over height) experiments. These systems have rotational symmetry and consist of fluid layers that are destabilized using two different methods. The first one is a classical Bénard–Marangoni experiment, where the destabilizing forces, buoyancy and surface tension, are created by temperature gradients. The second system consists of a large drop of liquid metal destabilized using oscillating magnetic fields. In this configuration, the instability is generated by a radial Lorentz force acting on the conducting fluid. Although there are many important differences between the two configurations, the dynamics are quite similar: the patterns break the rotational symmetry, and different azimuthal and radial wavenumbers appear depending on the experimental control parameters. These patterns in most cases are stationary, but for some parameters they exhibit different dynamical behaviours: rotations, transitions between different solutions or cyclic connections between different patterns.