Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2017) 132: 483
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2017-11774-3

Regular Article

Effect of the Hartmann number on phase separation controlled by magnetic field for binary mixture system with large component ratio

¹ Functional Soft Matter & Materials Group, Key Laboratory of Space Applied Physics and Chemistry of Ministry of Education, School of Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 710129, Xi’an, China
² State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 710072, Xi’an, China

^* e-mail: gengxg@nwpu.edu.cn

Received: 27 June 2017
Accepted: 16 October 2017
Published online: 24 November 2017

Abstract

This paper presents an exploration for phase separation in a magnetic field using a coupled lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) with magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). The left vertical wall was kept at a constant magnetic field. Simulations were conducted by the strong magnetic field to enhance phase separation and increase the size of separated phases. The focus was on the effect of magnetic intensity by defining the Hartmann number (Ha) on the phase separation properties. The numerical investigation was carried out for different governing parameters, namely Ha and the component ratio of the mixed liquid. The effective morphological evolutions of phase separation in different magnetic fields were demonstrated. The patterns showed that the slant elliptical phases were created by increasing Ha, due to the formation and increase of magnetic torque and force. The dataset was rearranged for growth kinetics of magnetic phase separation in a plot by spherically averaged structure factor and the ratio of separated phases and total system. The results indicate that the increase in Ha can increase the average size of separated phases and accelerate the spinodal decomposition and domain growth stages. Specially for the larger component ratio of mixed phases, the separation degree was also significantly improved by increasing magnetic intensity. These numerical results provide guidance for setting the optimum condition for the phase separation induced by magnetic field.