Magnetic Dissipation of Near-Wall Turbulent Coherent Structures

Relaminarization of wall-bounded turbulent flows by means of external static magnetic fields is a long-known phenomenon in the physics of electrically conducting fluids at low magnetic Reynolds numbers. Despite the large literature on the subject, it is not yet completely clear what combination of the Hartmann ($M$) and the Reynolds number has to be used to predict the laminar-turbulent transition in channel or pipe flows fed by upstream turbulent flows free of magnetic perturbations. Relying upon standard phenomenological approaches related to mixing length and structural concepts, we put forward that $M/R_\tau$, where $R_\tau$ is the friction Reynolds number, is the appropriate controlling parameter for relaminarization, a proposal which finds good support from available experimental data.