0000000000277183
AUTHOR
Jean-françois Pinton
Open questions about homogeneous fluid dynamos: The VKS experiment
International audience; We consider several problems that arise in the context of homogeneous fluid dynamos such as the effect of turbulence on the dynamo threshold, the saturation level of the generated magnetic field above the threshold and its dynamics. We compare some of our predictions with the recent experimental results of the Karlsruhe and Riga experiments. Finally, we present the VKS experiment that we have designed to answer some of the remaining open questions. We study, in particular, the response of a turbulent flow to an external magnetic field.
Induction mechanisms in a von Kármán swirling flows of liquid Gallium
International audience; Using in situ magnetic field measurements, we study the induction mechanisms in a swirling flow of liquid Gallium generated inside a cylinder, in the gap between two coaxial rotating discs. The von Kármán flow generated in this manner has both helicity and differential rotation. Magnetic Reynolds numbers Rm up to 7 (based on the disc rim speed) are generated. We study the magnetic induction when an external field is applied successively along the axis, in the azimuthal direction or tranverse to the axis of rotation. In the first two cases, both the flow and the magnetic field are axisymmetric, and an effective mechanism of conversion from poloidal to toroidal field e…