Publications Repository - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

In two different cylindrical electrochemical cells, copper deposition and dissolution in the presence of a magnetic field mostly parallel to the electric field has been investigated. Particle image velocimetry measurements show that even under such a field configuration where Lorentz forces are often a priori neglected in fact they may dominate the flow. Further on, depending on the electrode radius a reversal of the secondary flow has been found. This feature can be explained by the different Lorentz force configurations calculated from the magnetic field and the primary current distributions. The components of the magnetic field have been determined by means of a traversed Hall probe as well as calculated by a commercial finite element package. Experimentally and numerically determined field distributions match very well. A good agreement between the measured and calculated velocity distributions has also been found, suggesting that in the present case the effect of the Lorentz force alone is sufficient to explain the magnetic field influence on the flow.