Electronic edition ISSN 1574-0579

Recent results on MHD damped convection in the horizontal Brigmanconfiguration

L. Davoust¹ , F. Bertrand² , R. Moreau¹ , Ph. Tanguy² , R. Bolcato¹

¹ INPG Laboratoire EPM-MADYLAM, ENSHMG, BP 95 38402 Saint Martin d Heres Cedex, France
² UREPI, Ecole Polytechnique, P.O. Box 6079, Station Centre-Ville Montreal, Canada, H3C 3A7

Abstract
A 3D numerical simulation of the steady convective flow of a low Prandtl number fluid (Pr = 0.025) in the melt of a horizontal Bridgman crystal growth furnace in the presence of a vertical uniform magnetic field is presented. Former theoretical, experimental and 2D numerical results for the primary flow are confirmed. Moreover, a rather complex3D flow structure, driven by both the temperature and the electric potential distributions is exhibited. New experimental results on the stability of this flow are also presented, which suggest a subcritical bifurcation with hysteresis and different spectral behaviours when the magnetic field is increasing (stabilizing) or decreasing (destabilizing). Table 1, Figs 9, Refs 14.