Liquid metal flow in a cylinder during the spin-up of a rotating magnetic field

This experimental study is concerned with the secondary meridional flow during the time if the fluid spins up from rest. A cylindrical cavity with an aspect ratio of unity is filled with liquid metal and suddenly exposed to an azimuthal body force generated by a rotating magnetic field (RMF). Vertical profiles of the axial velocity have been measured by means of the ultrasound Doppler velocimetry. Our experimental results show an excellent agreement with recently published numerical results with respect to the laminar spin-up and the onset of linear three-dimensional instabilities in RMFdriven flows.