Effect of the magnetic field direction on the mass-imbalance of MHD flows in a multi-channel conduit with spatially non-uniform electric conductivity

In this study, numerically analyzed is the effect of the orientation of the applied transverse magnetic field on the mass-imbalance of MHD flows in a multi-channel conduit consisting of three parallel channels with spatially non-uniform electric conductivity, by using CFX. In the multi-channel conduit, co-flows are driven by the constant pressure gradient in the three channels so that the mass-imbalance among the three channels may be observed in the above situations. Here, the mechanism leading to the mass flow imbalance caused by the orientation of magnetic field and by the spatial difference in the electric conductivity is discussed specifically. The results show that when the channels have spatially different electric conductivity the mass flow imbalance becomes more significant with an increasing of the angle of the applied magnetic field with respect to the plane parallel to the three channels (α).