Magnetohydrodynamic Flow Around a Circular Cylinder

The flow around a circular cylinder is considered for the following particular configuration: The fluid is electrically conducting and the whole system is inside an external magnetic field. This magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow is of interest for various applications but also for basic fluiddynamic research.
As an introduction to typical MHD effects a simple model system is considered: Fluid flow parallel to the cylinder axis. It allows an analytical solution of the combined system of Navier-Stokes- and Maxwell-equations. The results clearly show the development of the typical shear-layers resulting from the electromagnetic and viscous forces: Boundary layer at the cylinder surface, tangential layers at the cylinder poles, deep core and outer core of the wake.
Analytical and experimental results will be summarized concerning the more interesting standard geometry of a flow perpendicular to the cylinder axis.
The experimental results include turbulence intensities and the induced magnetic field at different locations in the up- and downstream wakes, as well as the pressure at the cylinder surface.