Viscous and Joulean power losses in liquid-metal sliding electrical contacts with finite electrically conducting electrodes

Designing high performance liquid-metal sliding electrical contacts for homopolar machinery requires a precise knowledge of the magnitudes of the viscous and Joulean losses under various operating conditions. The liquid metal, which is confined to a channel between a rotor and stator, is subjected to a large external magnetic induction while transporting current. Significant power losses can occur in these devices. The geometry and electrical conductivity of the channel walls have a significant effect on these losses. In past theoretical work, copper electrodes were generally treated as perfect electrical conductors as compared to liquid metals. Calculations based on this perfectly conducting electrode approximation predicted unrealistically high power losses. In the present study, the effects of electrodes with finite conductivity on both the viscous dissipation and Joulean heating are explored. Numerical results are presented for both radial and axial magnetic inductions. It is found that the magnetic induction orientation has a significant impact on the losses. The results of this type of analysis can be used to minimize the power losses in the design of liquid-metal sliding electrical contacts.