Experimental investigation of flow characteristics of a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) duct of fan-shaped cross section

Experiments along with numerical calculations are carried out to investigate the effect of the geometry of the cross section on flow characteristics of a MHD propulsion duct. A fan-shaped cross-section MHD thruster duct is chosen for comparison with a previously investigated rectangular cross section. Measurement of the velocity field is made using LDV (Laser Doppler Velocimetry) system with a fiber-optic cable and pressure distribution is measured with static pressure holes at the bottom surface. Comparison with rectangular cross section shows that the velocity profile is significantly influenced by the geometry of cross section while the axial pressure distribution is not so affected.