Measurements of a three-dimensional flow in a cube by means of an ultrasound array Doppler velocimeter (UADV)

Velocity measurements were carried out in a cube filled with the liquid metal GaInSn using a dual plane, two-component ultrasound array Doppler velocimeter. The liquid metal was suddenly exposed to an azimuthal body force generated by a rotating magnetic field (RMF). The measurements show a similar flow structure compared to the case of the RMF-driven flow in a cylindrical container, in particular the so-called initial adjustment phase followed by an inertial phase which is dominated by inertial oscillations of the secondary flow. The interest was especially focused on the onset of unsteady flow regimes. The transition from the steady double vortex structure of the secondary flow to an oscillating regime was detected at a magnetic Taylor number of Ta > 1.3  105. A detailed analysis of the flow structure was done by means of the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD). Corresponding numerical simulations were performed showing an excellent agreement with the experimental data.