Volumetric-driven flows on the Plasma Couette Experiment

Experiments for driving Keplerian-like flow profiles with the goal of exciting the magnetorotational instability (MRI) on the Plasma Couette Experiment Upgrade (PCX-U) are described. Instead of driving flow at the boundaries as is typical in many liquid metal Couette experiments, a global drive is implemented. A large (20+ A) radial current is drawn across a small (1-3 G) axial field generating torque across the whole profile. This volumetric-driven flow (VDF) is capable of producing profiles similar to Keplerian flow with Alfvén Mach numbers of order unity--ideal for MRI studies. Experimental measurements will be compared to numerical calculations that show that at sufficiently high magnetic and fluid Reynolds numbers, VDF can drive the MRI.