A pseudo-spectral method with volume penalisation for magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in confined domains

Kai Schneider (1) , Salah Neffaa (1) , Wouter J.T. Bos (2)

1 M2P2 - Laboratoire de Mécanique, Modélisation et Procédés Propres
2 LMFA - Laboratoire de Mecanique des Fluides et d'Acoustique

We present a Fourier pseudo-spectral method for solving the resistive magnetohydrodynamic equations of incompressible flow in confined domains. A volume penalisation method allows to take into account boundary conditions and the geometry of the domain. A code validation is presented for the z-pinch test case. Numerical simulations of decaying MHD turbulence in two space dimensions show spontaneous spin-up of the flow in non-axisymmetric geometries, which is reflected by the generation of angular momentum. First results of decaying MHD turbulence in a cylinder illustrate the potential of the new method for three-dimensional simulations.

Domaines: Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Kai Schneider, Salah Neffaa, Wouter J.T. Bos. A pseudo-spectral method with volume penalisation for magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in confined domains. Computer Physics Communications, 2011, 182 (1), pp.2-7. ⟨10.1016/j.cpc.2010.05.019⟩. ⟨hal-00647827⟩