MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC LIGHT SOURCE
WITH A HIGH-TEMPERATURE CURRENT SHEET

S. S. Katsnel'son, N. P. Gridnev, and
G. A. Pozdnyakov

UDC 533.95;537.84

Mathematical modeling of a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) light 
source based on the physical phenomenon of a C sheet has been performed. 
The disk scheme of an MHD energy converter where the radiator is a 
high-temperature current sheet resulting from the interaction of the 
gas flow with the magnetic field has been selected as the light source. 
The calculations have been carried out within the framework of the 
unsteady equations of magnetic hydrodynamics for a viscous compressible 
heat-conducting gas with allowance for radiative heat transfer and 
turbulence. The process of formation of the current sheet in the presence 
of the radiative heat exchange and the outgoing radiation has been 
studied. It has been shown that the radiation from the C sheet is 
reabsorbed in colder regions of the flow; however this does not lead 
to the smearing of the current region and no constriction of the current 
is observed. The integral characteristics of the radiation, including 
those of the outgoing-radiation flux, have been calculated.

Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Siberian 
Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia; email: 
savelii@itam.nsc.ru. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, 
Vol. 76, No. 1, pp. 114-119, January-February, 2003. Original 
article submitted April 8, 2002; revision submitted June 11, 2002.