Publikationsrepositorium - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

Precession has long been discussed as a complementary energy source for homogeneous dynamo action. To that end, DRESDYN, a large scale, precession driven dynamo experiment, is currently in advanced planning stage at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. DRESDYN will consist of a variable axis, precessing cylinder of approximately 2m diameter filled with liquid sodium.

Preliminary studies using a 1:6 scale water experiment are currently performed, focussing on laminar-turbulent transition characteristics. A sudden jump in the motor's mesured electrical power suggests transition to occur at a precession rate of $\Gamma = 0.06$. We also conduct Direct Numerical Simulations, although, for the time being, limited to a Reynolds number Re = O(6000), which is ten times smaller than in the water experiment.

At the conference, we will introduce the planned setup of DRESDYN and show first experimental and numerical results for the 1:6 water model.