Nonlinear theory of magnetohydrodynamic flows of a compressible fluid in the shallow water approximation

Shallow water magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) theory describing incompressible flows of plasma is generalized to the case of compressible flows. A system of MHD equations is obtained that describes the flow of a thin layer of compressible rotating plasma in a gravitational field in the shallow water approximation. The system of quasilinear hyperbolic equations obtained admits a complete simple wave analysis and a solution to the initial discontinuity decay problem in the simplest version of nonrotating flows. In the new equations, sound waves are filtered out, and the dependence of density on pressure on large scales is taken into account that describes static compressibility phenomena. In the equations obtained, the mass conservation law is formulated for a variable that nontrivially depends on the shape of the lower boundary, the characteristic vertical scale of the flow, and the scale of heights at which the variation of density becomes significant. A simple wave theory is developed for the system of equations obtained. All self-similar discontinuous solutions and all continuous centered self-similar solutions of the system are obtained. The initial discontinuity decay problem is solved explicitly for compressible MHD equations in the shallow water approximation. It is shown that there exist five different configurations that provide a solution to the initial discontinuity decay problem. For each configuration, conditions are found that are necessary and sufficient for its implementation. Differences between incompressible and compressible cases are analyzed. In spite of the formal similarity between the solutions in the classical case of MHD flows of an incompressible and compressible fluids, the nonlinear dynamics described by the solutions are essentially different due to the difference in the expressions for the squared propagation velocity of weak perturbations. In addition, the solutions obtained describe new physical phenomena related to the dependence of the height of the free boundary on the density of the fluid. Self-similar continuous and discontinuous solutions are obtained for a system on a slope, and a solution is found to the initial discontinuity decay problem in this case.     

Non-local closure and parallel performance of lattice Boltzmann models for some plasma physics problems

The lattice Boltzmann (LB) method is a mesoscopic approach to solving nonlinear macroscopic conservation equations. Because the LB algorithm yields a simple collide-stream sequence it has been extensively applied to Navier–Stokes flows, but its MHD counterpart is less well known in the plasma physics community. Several plasma problems that should be amenable to LB are discussed. In particular, Landau damping—a collisionless kinetic phenomenon of wave–particle interaction—can be studied by LB since non-local macroscopic closures have been generated by plasma physicists. The parallel performance of 2D LB codes for MHD are presented, including scaling performance on the Earth Simulator.     

Plasma heating by discontinuous MHD flows in the vicinity of a magnetic reconnection region

An expression that explicitly describes variations in the internal energy of the plasma that flows through a discontinuity is derived based on the complete system of boundary conditions for the MHD equations on the discontinuity surface. The dependence of the plasma heating on the magnetic field density and configuration in the vicinity of the discontinuity surface (i.e., on the MHD flow type) is studied. The conditions of plasma heating at discontinuities in a self-consistent analytical model of magnetic reconnection are discussed.     

Formation of compression shocks in a nonequilibrium plasma flow in a magnetic field

Plasma flow in a linearly widening, ideally sectioned, short-circuited magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) channel is studied. MHD flows are classified into two types: continuous flows and flows with a compressional MHD shock in plasmas that are stable and unstable against the onset of ionization instability. Specific features in the evolution of a stationary compression MHD shock are investigated, and its position as a function of the Stewart number is determined. It is found that, in a plasma flow in which ionization instability develops, a compression MHD shock arises at lower values of the MHD interaction parameter than in a stable plasma flow. An unidentified type of instability of MHD discontinuities is revealed.     

MHD waves and instabilities in flowing solar flux-tube plasmas in the framework of Hall magnetohydrodynamics

It is well established now that the solar atmosphere, from photosphere to the corona and the solar wind is a highly structured medium. Satellite observations have confirmed the presence of steady flows. Here, we investigate the parallel propagation of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) surface waves travelling along an ideal incompressible flowing plasma slab surrounded by flowing plasma environment in the framework of the Hall magnetohydrodynamics. The propagation properties of the waves are studied in a reference frame moving with the mass flow outside the slab. In general, flows change the waves’ phase velocities compared to their magnitudes in a static MHD plasma slab and the Hall effect limits the range of waves’ propagation. On the other hand, when the relative Alfvénic Mach number is negative, the flow extends the waves propagation range beyond that limit (owing to the Hall effect) and can cause the triggering of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability whose onset begins at specific critical wave numbers. It turns out that the interval of Alfvénic Mach numbers for which the surface modes are unstable critically depends on the ratio between mass densities outside and inside the flux tube.     

A robust numerical scheme for highly compressible magnetohydrodynamics: Nonlinear stability,implementation and tests

The ideal MHD equations are a central model in astrophysics, and their solution relies upon stable numerical schemes. We present an implementation of a new method, which possesses excellent stability properties. Numerical tests demonstrate that the theoretical stability properties are valid in practice with negligible compromises to accuracy. The result is a highly robust scheme with state-of-the-art efficiency. The scheme’s robustness is due to entropy stability, positivity and properly discretised Powell terms. The implementation takes the form of a modification of the MHD module in the FLASH code, an adaptive mesh refinement code. We compare the new scheme with the standard FLASH implementation for MHD. Results show comparable accuracy to standard FLASH with the Roe solver, but highly improved efficiency and stability, particularly for high Mach number flows and low plasma β. The tests include 1D shock tubes, 2D instabilities and highly supersonic, 3D turbulence. We consider turbulent flows with RMS sonic Mach numbers up to 10, typical of gas flows in the interstellar medium. We investigate both strong initial magnetic fields and magnetic field amplification by the turbulent dynamo from extremely high plasma β. The energy spectra show a reasonable decrease in dissipation with grid refinement, and at a resolution of 512³ grid cells we identify a narrow inertial range with the expected power law scaling. The turbulent dynamo exhibits exponential growth of magnetic pressure, with the growth rate higher from solenoidal forcing than from compressive forcing. Two versions of the new scheme are presented, using relaxation-based 3-wave and 5-wave approximate Riemann solvers, respectively. The 5-wave solver is more accurate in some cases, and its computational cost is close to the 3-wave solver.     

柱等离子体中广义磁流体方程组的简化形式与本征模解

本文从含有广义欧姆定律的磁流体力学方程组出发,仅作符合加热托卡马克等离子体具体实验条件的近似,把广义磁流体方程组简化成4元一阶微分方程组。对均匀密度等离子体柱情况求出解析色散关系(本征模解),并证明Appert理论是本文的极限情况。 关键词：     

A current density conservative scheme for incompressible MHD flows at a low magnetic Reynolds number. Part I: On a rectangular collocated grid system

A consistent, conservative and accurate scheme has been designed to calculate the current density and the Lorentz force by solving the electrical potential equation for magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) at low magnetic Reynolds numbers and high Hartmann numbers on a finite-volume structured collocated grid. In this collocated grid, velocity (u), pressure (p), and electrical potential (φ) are located in the grid center, while current fluxes are located on the cell faces. The calculation of current fluxes on the cell faces is conducted using a conservative scheme, which is consistent with the discretization scheme for the solution of electrical potential Poisson equation. A conservative interpolation is used to get the current density at the cell center, which is used to conduct the calculation of Lorentz force at the cell center for momentum equations. We will show that both “conservative” and “consistent” are important properties of the scheme to get an accurate result for high Hartmann number MHD flows with a strongly non-uniform mesh employed to resolve the Hartmann layers and side layers of Hunt’s conductive walls and Shercliff’s insulated walls. A general second-order projection method has been developed for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations with the Lorentz force included. This projection method can accurately balance the pressure term and the Lorentz force for a fully developed core flow. This method can also simplify the pressure boundary conditions for MHD flows.     

Study of MHD dynamo effect at the outlet from plasma accelerator in the presence of longitudinal magnetic field

Properties of compressible flows in the quasi-stationary plasma accelerator have been studied in the presence of an additional longitudinal magnetic field and the arising rotation of plasma flow. Numerical study was carried out within the framework of two-dimensional magnetic hydrodynamics (MHD) model of the axisymmetric plasma flows taking into account the finite conductivity of medium and radiation transport. Dynamics of compressible plasma flows is accompanied by the MHD dynamo effect or generation of magnetic field on a conical shock wave forming at the outlet from the accelerator.     

轴向流对Z箍缩等离子体稳定性的影响

利用理想磁流体力学(MHD)模型对有轴向流参与的Z箍缩等离子体不稳定性进行了分析.对可压缩平板等离子体模型的色散关系进行了推导，讨论了三种不同等离子体状态下的不稳定性增长率.结果显示，等离子体的可压缩性对磁瑞利-泰勒/开尔文-亥姆霍兹(MRT/KH)杂化不稳定性有抑制作用，改善了轴向剪切流对长波长扰动的影响.分析了不同轴向流速度分布对系统稳定性的影响.结果表明，对于峰值相同的不同轴向流，其对不稳定性的抑制效果只依赖于扰动集中区域内速度剪切的大小，与其他位置的速度剪切无关. 关键词： Z箍缩 磁瑞利-泰勒不稳定性 轴向剪切流 MHD方程     

Magnetohydrodynamics of a viscous spherical layer rotating in a strong potential field

An analytic solution is given for classical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) problem of almost rigid-body rotation of a viscous, conducting spherical layer of liquid in an axisymmetric potential magnetic field. Large-scale flows bounded by rigid spheres are described for the first time in a new approximation. Two problems are solved: (1) in which both spheres are insulators and (2) in which the outer sphere is an insulator and the inner sphere a conductor. Axially symmetric flows and azimuthal magnetic fields are maintained by a slightly faster rotation of the inner sphere. The primary regeneration takes place in the boundary and shear MHD layers. The shear layers, described here for the first time, smooth out the large gradients at the boundaries of the MHD structures encompassed by them. There is essentially no azimuthal magnetic field inside these original structures, which are bounded by potential contours tangent to the spheres. An applied constant magnetic field creates a rigid MHD structure outside an axial cylinder tangent to the inner sphere. Inside the cylinder the rotation is faster and the meridional flux depends on height. A magnetic dipole forms a structure tangent to the outer equator. Outside the structure, the rotation is also rigid-body when both spheres are insulators. When a conducting sphere is present, the liquid rotates differentially everywhere, while near the axis and inside the MHD structure, it rotates even faster than the inner sphere. The last example of a general solution is a quadrupole magnetic field. In this case, two equatorially symmetric MHD structures are formed which rotate together with the inner sphere. Outside the structures, as in the most general case, the rotation is differential, the azimuthal magnetic field falls off as the first power of the applied field, and the meridional flux falls off as the square of the field in the first problem, and as the cube in the second. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 2056–2078 (December 1997)     

Serrin-Type Blowup Criterion for Viscous, Compressible, and Heat Conducting Navier-Stokes and Magnetohydrodynamic Flows

This paper establishes a blowup criterion for the three-dimensional viscous, compressible, and heat conducting magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows. It is essentially shown that for the Cauchy problem and the initial-boundary-value one of the three-dimensional compressible MHD flows with initial density allowed to vanish, the strong or smooth solution exists globally if the density is bounded from above and the velocity satisfies Serrin’s condition. Therefore, if the Serrin norm of the velocity remains bounded, it is not possible for other kinds of singularities (such as vacuum states vanishing or vacuum appearing in the non-vacuum region or even milder singularities) to form before the density becomes unbounded. This criterion is analogous to the well-known Serrin’s blowup criterion for the three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, in particular, it is independent of the temperature and magnetic field and is just the same as that of the barotropic compressible Navier-Stokes equations. As a direct application, it is shown that the same result also holds for the strong or smooth solutions to the three-dimensional full compressible Navier-Stokes system describing the motion of a viscous, compressible, and heat conducting fluid.     

On the Averaged Forces in Bounded Plasma in Parallel Electric and Magnetic Fields

Averaged forces of Miller's type, acting on the particles of a bounded plasma in parallel external a. c. electric and d. c. magnetic fields, are found on the basis of the equations of the two-component MHD. It is assumed, that standing transverse waves are excited in the plasma by the external source before the a. c. electric field is switched on.     

平行壁变形导电管磁流体层流数值模拟

采用自主开发的基于 OpenFOAM 环境下的磁流体求解器,对外加横向均匀磁场的导电方管、平行 壁内凹导电管以及平行壁外凸导电管内的磁流体进行了层流数值模拟。在壁面电导率为 0.01、流体雷诺数为 500、 哈特曼数为 500~2000 的条件下,研究了三种导电管中液态金属磁流体速度分布和压降。结果表明：平行壁内凹 和外凸对速度分布具有显著影响;在相同参数条件下,平行壁内凹管的压降大于方管,而平行壁外凸管的压降小 于方管。     

Multi-level Monte Carlo finite volume methods for nonlinear systems of conservation laws in multi-dimensions

We extend the multi-level Monte Carlo (MLMC) in order to quantify uncertainty in the solutions of multi-dimensional hyperbolic systems of conservation laws with uncertain initial data. The algorithm is presented and several issues arising in the massively parallel numerical implementation are addressed. In particular, we present a novel load balancing procedure that ensures scalability of the MLMC algorithm on massively parallel hardware. A new code is described and applied to simulate uncertain solutions of the Euler equations and ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations. Numerical experiments showing the robustness, efficiency and scalability of the proposed algorithm are presented.     

A consistent and conservative scheme for incompressible MHD flows at a low magnetic Reynolds number. Part III: On a staggered mesh

The consistent and conservative scheme developed on a rectangular collocated mesh [M.-J. Ni, R. Munipalli, N.B. Morley, P. Huang, M.A. Abdou, A current density conservative scheme for incompressible MHD flows at a low magnetic Reynolds number. Part I: on a rectangular collocated grid system, Journal of Computational Physics 227 (2007) 174–204] and on an arbitrary collocated mesh [M.-J. Ni, R. Munipalli, P. Huang, N.B. Morley, M.A. Abdou, A current density conservative scheme for incompressible MHD flows at a low magnetic Reynolds number. Part II: on an arbitrary collocated mesh, Journal of Computational Physics 227 (2007) 205–228] has been extended and specially designed for calculation of the Lorentz force on a staggered grid system (Part III) by solving the electrical potential equation for magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) at a low magnetic Reynolds number. In a staggered mesh, pressure (p) and electrical potential (φ) are located in the cell center, while velocities and current fluxes are located on the cell faces of a main control volume. The scheme numerically meets the physical conservation laws, charge conservation law and momentum conservation law. Physically, the Lorentz force conserves the momentum when the magnetic field is constant or spatial coordinate independent. The calculation of current density fluxes on cell faces is conducted using a scheme consistent with the discretization for solution of the electrical potential Poisson equation, which can ensure the calculated current density conserves the charge. A divergence formula of the Lorentz force is used to calculate the Lorentz force at the cell center of a main control volume, which can numerically conserve the momentum at constant or spatial coordinate independent magnetic field. The calculated cell-center Lorentz forces are then interpolated to the cell faces, which are used to obtain the corresponding velocity fluxes by solving the momentum equations. The “conservative” is an important property of the scheme, which can guarantee computational accuracy of MHD flows at high Hartmann number with a strongly non-uniform mesh employed to resolve the Hartmann layers and side layers. 2D fully developed MHD flows with analytical solutions available have been conducted to validate the scheme at a staggered mesh. 3D MHD flows, with the experimental data available, at a constant magnetic field in a rectangular duct with sudden expansion and at a varying magnetic field in a rectangular duct are conducted on a staggered mesh to verify the computational accuracy of the scheme. It is expected that the scheme for the Lorentz force can be employed together with a fully conservative scheme for the convective term and the pressure term [Y. Morinishi, T.S. Lund, O.V. Vasilyev, P. Moin, Fully conservative higher order finite difference schemes for incompressible flow, Journal of Computational Physics 143 (1998) 90–124] for direct simulation of MHD turbulence and MHD instability with good accuracy at a staggered mesh.     

Global Wave Solution of generalized MHD Equations in a Cylindrical Plasma

The linear eigenstate problem of generalized magnetohydrodynamics(MHD) equations in a cylindrical plasma is discussed. The effects of finite frequency and finite pressure perturbation lead to an important result: the resonant layer of the shear Alfven waves is not a singular layer. In this paper, the MHD equations are reduced to four differential equations of first order for perturbed quantities. An analytical dispersion relation for a homogeneous plasma cylinder is obtained. The K. Appert theory is a limiting case of our theory     

用于电磁驱动真空-等离子体系统数值模拟的弛豫磁流体力学模型

提出了一个弛豫磁流体力学模型,特别适合电磁驱动真空-等离子体系统的数值模拟。该模型和Seyler采用的弛豫模型有相似之处,即采用全电磁模型,不同的是采用忽略电子惯性项的广义欧姆定律直接作为本构来封闭麦克斯韦方程,减少了独立变量,是适合此类问题的最简模型。分析了磁流体力学模型电磁部分的色散关系,从而论证了其在真空区退化为电磁传播,在等离子体物质区退化为磁扩散近似,并且相速和群速是有上界的。改进了Seyler采用的时间离散方式,从而将时间精度从1阶提高到3阶,时间步长不受刚性源项约束,只受系统最大的特征速度确定的柯朗-弗里德里奇-列维(CFL)条件约束,便于显式计算和大规模并行化。     

An MHD Effect on a Newtonian Fluid Flow Due to a Superlinear Stretching Sheet

The preliminary aim of this article is to investigate the effect of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows of a viscous fluid due to a superlinear stretching sheet. These boundary layer flows arise in the industrial processes such as polymer extrusion processes, metal spinning, glass blowing and heat exchangers. The representing frameworks of highly nonlinear partial differential equations are mapped to nonlinear ordinary differential equations with a constant coefficient via similarity transformation and are solved analytically. The results are analyzed by means of various plots to provide the comparison and found to be in better agreement with the classical results of Crane and Pavlov. The viscous fluid due to a superlinear stretching sheet in the presence ofMHDhas enormous amount of nonlinearity in conducting the solution area with different arrangements.