Instability of magnetohydrodynamic flow in an annular channel at high Hartmann number

Instability of a flow of an electrically conducting fluid in an annular channel is analyzed. Strong constant magnetic field is imposed in the axial direction. Similarly to toroidal duct experiments, the flow is driven by the azimuthal Lorentz force resulting from the interaction between the magnetic field and the radial electric currents created by a difference of electric potential imposed between the cylinders. The instability of the base flow, while clearly of centrifugal nature, is significantly different from the Dean instability detected earlier in hydrodynamic systems and similar MHD systems at low and moderate magnetic fields. Growing perturbations are oscillating and axisymmetric and consist of counter-rotating toroidal vortices arranged side by side in the radial direction and having meridional cross-sections in the form of elongated ellipses oriented slightly obliquely to the axial direction. Simulations of the secondary flow show an interesting feature of periodic transitions between two symmetric solutions. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3622775]