Magnetohydrodynamics in Liquid Metal Interfacial Flows

Abstract Liquid metal interfacial flows occur in the fields of nuclear fusion and electromagnetic metallurgy. Due to the electrically conductive characteristics of the liquid metal, the presence of magnetic fields in these application scenarios has significant impacts on the interfacial flow behaviors. Then typical interfacial flows under the influence of magnetic fields, such as the free surface liquid metal flow, the liquid metal droplet impacting problems, and the bubble motion in liquid metal, are discussed in the present review. We comprehensively illustrate the flow characteristics of free surface liquid metal flow, the spreading of liquid metal droplets impacting onto solid or liquid surfaces, outcomes of collisions between metal droplets, and bubble dynamics in liquid metal, under the influence of magnetic fields along different directions. Meanwhile, we briefly review the current concepts of liquid metal free surface flow plasma facing components (PFCs) in fusion reactors and finally make a summary for the open questions related to the fundamental research and industrial applications of interfacial flow magnetohydrodynamics in the future.