Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2010
We investigate the steady pressure driven flow of conducting fluid through an insulating circular pipe in the presence of a transverse applied magnetic field. It is well known that an exact solution is available, and the series expressions for the fluid velocity and induced magnetic field have often appeared in the literature, Uflyand (1960), Uhlenbusch and Fischer (1961), Gold (1962); however, no progress has been made in deriving asymptotic expansions for large Hartmann number directly from these series. Boundary layer methods have been used by Shercliff (1953. 1962) to determine the core structure, the Hartmann layer structure, the current distribution and the flow rate; however, these analyses do not describe the tangential layers (called obscure layers by Shercliff), which are located in the vicinity of the points at which the applied magnetic field is tangential to the pipe.