Optimizing helical disc dynamo

Abstract

We present an optimized design of our recently realized helical disc dynamo. Like the original set-up, the optimized dynamo consists of a flat multi-arm spiral coil and a co-axially placed disc which is connected to the former by sliding liquid metal contacts. In contrast to the original set-up, the disc and the coil in the optimized design have different sizes. This allows the disc to capture more of the high-density magnetic flux generated in the inner part of the coil and to avoid the reverse flux in the outer part of the coil. By optimizing the coil and dics radii, the critical magnetic Reynolds number can be reduced from ${\mathit Rm}\approx34.6$ when the disc and coil have equal inner and outer radii with the ratio $r_{i}/r_{o}\approx0.36$ to ${\mathit Rm}\approx11.6.$ This lowest possible disc dynamo threshold is attained when the disc and coil have relatively narrow widths. Using a slightly suboptimal but more practical set-up with the inner and outer radii of the disc and coil equal to to $(0.3,0.9)$ and $(0.74,1),$ respectively, self-excitation is expected at ${\mathit Rm}\approx14.6.$