ABSTRACT

This paper reports on an investigation of the interaction between thermal buoyancy and electro-magnetic (EM) forcing, aimed at utilising the latter to control heat transfer in natural and mixed convection. Recent numerical simulations by Kenjeres and Hanjalic [1] indicated a reorganisation of coherent flow structures in Rayleigh-Bénard (RB) convection when a local forcing is applied. The focus of the paper is on manipulating these structures by local Lorentz forces. Temperature and velocity measurements are performed with and without the presence of the EM forcing. They reveal characteristic vortices as well as a change in heat transfer in the vicinity of the local forcing.