High resolution microtomography-based CFD simulation of flow and heat transfer in aluminum metal foams

Abstract

Engineering disseminates novel research related to the design, development and demonstration of components, devices, equipment, technologies and systems involving thermal processes for the production, storage, utilization and conservation of energy, with a focus on engineering application. The journal publishes high-quality and high-impact Original Research Articles, Review Articles, Short Communications and Letters to the Editor on cutting-edge innovations in research, and recent advances or issues of interest to the thermal engineering community. Review papers are generally by invitation, however, prospective authors are welcome to submit review paper proposals to the Editorin-Chief or Deputy Editor-in-Chief by using this form. Example topics of interest to Applied Thermal Engineering include: Components, devices and equipment such as heat exchangers, heat pipes, power generation plants, heat pumps and refrigeration plants, combined heat and power plants, advanced or alternative cycles, polygeneration, combustion as a thermal energy process and a way to transfer this energy to or within components or systems (such as, for example, boilers, furnaces, internal combustion engines or gas turbines), heat transfer enhancement or suppression as applied to the above, and other unit operations involving thermal engineering processes. Renewable and clean-energy technologies such as solar-thermal or hybrid technologies or systems, the integration of renewable energy within conventional energy processes and systems, energy storage options, thermal management of fuel cells and batteries, and other alternative applied solutions for improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions through thermal engineering. Component through to system design covering energy production, storage and use in both the process and power industries, and in residential or commercial buildings, including passive thermal design techniques. Economic assessments of relevant thermal engineering projects, and of the financial performance and implications of component, equipment, technological and system design, implementation and operation.

Pore-Scale Numerical Investigation of Pressure Drop Behaviour Across Open-Cell Metal Foams

“…Similarly, the permeability values show a weak decrease with increasing surface area of the foams, with some samples presenting a small deviation from this general trend. This same trend was observed in pore-scale simulation results by Ranut et al (2014). Figure 10a depicts the CFD permeability values for all foams as a function of the specific surface area.…”

“…As shown in the work of Ranut et al (2014), open-cell metal foams normally have the pores and struts elongated along one particular direction due to their manufacturing process. Simulations results obtained by Ranut et al (2014) have shown that changing the direction of the incoming flow can cause deviations of up to 20 % on the pressure gradient. Unfortunately, anisotropy in the foam structure and its effect on the flow were not evaluated in the present work, but could explain some of the discrepancies found.…”

“…More recently, Ranut et al (2014) performed micro-CT-based finite volume single-phase flow and heat transfer simulations on open-cell aluminium foams with three different pore sizes in order to determine pressure drop and heat transfer parameters. Simulation results have shown a certain degree of anisotropy on the porous matrix of the foams.…”

The effective thermal conductivity of open cell replicated aluminium metal sponges

“…The cross sectional shape of metal fibre (strut) changes with porosity, from a circle at a porosity of 85% to a concave triangle when the porosity reaches 97% [15,21,39]. To include the effect of the thickness ratio of the nodes and struts, the predicted ETC from the Coquard et al model [18] was compared with experimental results with cubic and parallelepipedic node shapes.…”

Microtomography-based numerical simulations of heat transfer and fluid flow through β -SiC open-cell foams for catalysis

“…X-ray microcomputed tomography ( -CT) enables to capture and reconstruct the complex structure of porous media in accurate details [34][35][36][37]. Thus, simulations with realistic representations of metal opencell foams were carried out using finite element method for the analysis of heat transfer properties of metal foams [34,[37][38][39].…”