Liquid metal free surface flows （films, jets and droplets） are considered as diverter/ limiter system and first wall in fusion reactor, but the knowledge Of liquid metal free surface under a non-uniform magnetic field is very limited. In this article, the stability of a jet flow under a gradient magnetic field is investigated, and its MHD effects are the top concern. Based on numerical simulation and experimental results, a simplified model is developed to analyze the MHD effects of the jet flow and to explain the reason why it can keep stable under a strong non-uniform magnetic field.
Stability of liquid metal film flow under gradient magnetic field is investigated. Three dimensional numerical simulations on magnetohydrodynamics （MHD） effect of free surface film flow were carried out, with emphasis on the film thickness variation and its surface stability. Three different MHD phenomena of film flow were observed in the experiment, namely, retardant, rivulet and flat film flow. From our experiment and numerical simulation it can be concluded that flat film flow is a good choice for plasma-facing components （PFCs）
