On fluid motions induced by an electric current source

Abstract

In this paper we consider the flow field induced in an incompressible viscous conducting fluid, occupying the interior of a right circular cone, by an electriccurrent source situated at the vertex of the cone. We assume that the velocity field is small and its effect on the electromagnetic field is negligible. A similarity solution is obtained for the non-linear problem. This solution is an adaptation of Slezkin's solution for the momentum transfer through a viscous jet and, apart from the numerical solution of a Riccati type of equation, is exact. In particular, we investigate the case when the half angle of the cone is ½π and the fluid occupies the whole space on one side of an infinite plane. We also consider the corresponding inviscid flow problem that was recently investigated by another author and suggest that the solution obtained is not physically realistic.