Fluid capture by a permanent ring magnet in reduced gravity

Abstract

Recent advances in magnet technology suggest that magnetic positive positioning of liquids may become a viable technology for future spacecraft systems. Development of a new computational tool for simulating this process is presented as are results from experimental and computational studies of the process. Comparison of simulation predictions to known solutions for simple configurations and to experiment data, support the conclusion that the computational tool provides a good model of magnetic positive positioning. Sequences oFpredicted flow fields that extend the parameter space of the experimental investigation are presented and conclusions are drawn about the expeiiments, the simulation, and magnetic positive positioning.