Generating a tide-like flow in a cylindrical vessel by electromagnetic forcing

TL;DR

This study demonstrates how electromagnetic forcing can generate tide-like flows in a liquid metal within a cylindrical vessel, providing insights for future experiments and potential parallels to solar dynamo mechanisms.

Contribution

It presents novel numerical and experimental analysis of electromagnetic wave-driven tide-like flows in liquid metals, linking laboratory results to astrophysical phenomena.

Findings

Electromagnetic fields can induce tide-like flows in liquid metal.

Flow amplitude and structure depend on field strength and frequency.

Results inform future Rayleigh-Bénard experiments and solar dynamo models.

Abstract

We show and compare numerical and experimental results on the electromagnetic generation of a tide-like flow structure in a cylindrical vessel which is filled with the eutectic liquid metal alloy GaInSn. Fields of various strengths and frequencies are applied to drive liquid metal flows. The impact of the field variations on amplitude and structure of the flows is investigated. The results represent the basis for a future Rayleigh-B\'enard experiment, in which a modulated tide-like flow perturbation is expected to synchronize the typical sloshing mode of the large-scale circulation. A similar entrainment mechanism for the helicity in the Sun may be responsible for the synchronization of the solar dynamo with the alignment cycle of the tidally dominant planets Venus, Earth and Jupiter.